


Tarble in the Family

by FireStorm1991



Series: What You Saiyan [1]
Category: Dragon Ball, 幽☆遊☆白書 | YuYu Hakusho: Ghost Files
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireStorm1991/pseuds/FireStorm1991
Summary: Sequel to dragocscilvio's What You Saiyan on Fanfiction.Net.There can never be a calm moment in any Saiyan's or demon's life. With comfort comes chaos, and when another estranged family member arrives, a certain Saiyan hybrid has to work through his old issues that he thought were long buried. One thing is for certain; there's bound to be trouble.Cover Art by RheaSarama on DeviantArt
Relationships: Botan/Hiei (YuYu Hakusho), Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Gure/Tarble (Dragon Ball), Implied Tarble/Hina (YuYu Hakusho)
Series: What You Saiyan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062440
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters.
> 
> Hey everyone. I’m writing the sequel to the story What You Saiyan by dragoscilvio (courtesy to her for the title of this, too). It’s a great story and we’ve been working on both together. Those who have read it have been introduced to the Hiei/Vegeta nephew/uncle pair. I can now not see them any other way. So I hope you all read it. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one as well.

Hiei walked into the kitchen of his one year home. Tonight was his weekly movie night with his Aunt Bulma, whom he had recently dubbed “mom.” Vegeta was training, as usual, for an upcoming fight with Goku. Bra was at a friend’s sleepover, and Trunks was around. He would sometimes join them, but more often than not it was just Hiei and Bulma having some quality time.

He took out a large bowl after making a few bags of popcorn and grabbed his favorite chocolate licorice and drinks to bring to the living room.

“Need help with that?” Trunks asked as he saw his adoptive brother struggling with the movie snacks. Without waiting for a reply that would probably never come, he walked up to Hiei and took the drinks from him.

“Thanks,” Hiei mumbled not enjoying the fact that he needed to accept help, although he had been getting better with that way of thinking.

Trunks just smiled knowing how his brother could be. “No problem,” he replied. “So, movie night?”

“Hn,” Hiei grunted an affirmative. “Wanna join?”

“Nah,” he said. “I’m going over to Goten’s tonight. He’s trying to figure out what to wear tomorrow when his dad visits from training Uub.”

Hiei raised his brow in amusement. “Don’t girls normally worry about that stuff?” he asked mockingly.

Trunks laughed and said, “Hey, cut the guy some slack. He didn’t meet the guy until he was seven, then he kind of goes away to go train some other kid, to train his abilities and prevent another Buu fiasco. He will always be nervous when it comes to getting re-introduced to his father, especially with these random visits.”

Hiei nodded but said nothing more. He remembered how he felt his first day with his new family and their friends. He caught himself empathizing with Goten.

“Anyway, I’ll probably be over late for a spar,” Trunks said mischievously. “Mind covering for me?”

He smirked at his brother as they entered the living room. “I won’t say a word.”

Trunks set down the two soda cans and grinned. “Thanks, bro. See you in the morning. I bet you’re excited about tomorrow too, huh?”

Hiei couldn’t help but grin what he was reminded what the next day would bring. In addition to Goku returning, Hiei’s friends and sister would also be visiting. They would be staying for a month or so. Hiei couldn’t wait for Yukina to meet their aunt and cousins.

“I am excited,” Hiei confirmed.

Trunks nodded and waved to Hiei as they felt their mother’s ki ascending the staircase from her lab. After flashing a wink to his brother, Trunks took off towards Goten’s house to support his friend in his nervousness.

Bulma spotted Hiei in the living room and smiled as she watched him set everything up. Hiei picked up the DVD she had rented and looked at is strangely. He was surprised by her choice in genre. “I thought we’d go with a horror movie tonight,” she said. “I heard it was terrifying.”

Hiei looked over to her with a cocky grin. “Hn, I doubt it. Anything called ‘Medical Massacre’ can’t be that scary. Trust me; I’ve seen worse.”

“Oh yeah?” Bulma asked in amusement. “Well, I have too. I don’t think it’ll freak me out too much. These movies aren’t even close to the real thing.”

“Agreed,” Hiei replied as he placed the disc in the drive. He joined his mother on the couch and started munching on his licorice.

Bulma smiled at him and said, “Good, you found them. I wanted to make sure you ate something during this movie.”

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her. “Don’t start with that again.”

Bulma just gave him a knowing look. “You barely eat anything and you’re a Saiyan. What is wrong with that picture?”

Hiei and Bulma had been having this debate since he moved in. Being a loner in the middle of the Makai, Hiei never really ate much. Even when his Saiyan side took over, he still gripped onto those habits. Bulma would have none of that and would put more food on his plate than he wanted and demand he eat it all. It irritated him to no end, but it did feel nice to have someone care that much about his wellbeing.

“Let’s just watch the movie,” he muttered, taking out another piece of licorice.

As the movie progressed, Hiei and Bulma couldn’t help but scoff at the plot. “What kind of hospital thinks it’s a good idea to store their supplies in a morgue?” Bulma ridiculed.

“Why not?” Hiei asked. “People would be less inclined to go in there and take them. It’s not like anyone goes down there much anyway.”

Bulma deadpanned at Hiei’s calm reaction. “Um, that’s kind of the point,” she answered while unconsciously scooting closer to Hiei.

Creepier things started happening in the movie. Supplies were disappearing although no one entered the room. Those who went down there came back as pale as anything, though they couldn’t see that they were pale. Some of the lab technicians and interns sent to get the supplies started disappearing and no one could figure out why.

“They’re probably just so freaked out that they decided to run away,” Hiei muttered while repositioning himself a little bit towards Bulma.

His statement made Bulma laugh. “Yeah, and maybe they’re stealing supplies too.” Though she knew that in a horror movie, things weren’t that logical. She moved slightly off the couch to get her soda and then sat back down ending up right next to Hiei. They exchanged nervous smiles before an intern walked into the morgue after the lab technician told him not to go in alone and then ran away. The intern just shrugged at the lab technician’s behavior, walked in, and then got attacked by a shadow of a body. On the wall of the morgue, they saw the shadow of the boy being eaten by another body as some realistic looking blood splattered and the intern screamed for help. Both their eyebrows twitched before they both got up to reach for their drinks.

* * *

Vegeta had had a successful day of training and walked inside the main building of Capsule Corp. He heard the television in the living room and went to see who was in there. He was amused to see his nephew, whom he now affectionately referred to as “son,” and his mate sitting together on the couch. Hiei was sitting on Bulma’s lap with the bowl of popcorn on his. The two of them were taking handfuls of popcorn and not taking their eyes off the screen. Vegeta realized that the two of them were watching some type of Earthling horror movie, and it was obvious that the two of them were feeling pretty shaky. The Saiyan prince smirked as he stealthily moved into the room and behind them. Waiting for a truly terrifying part of the movie, Vegeta roughly placed his hands on both Bulma’s and Hiei’s shoulders effectively making the two of them jump out of their skin.

Hiei dropped the bowl of popcorn, fell on the floor, and looked behind the couch to see Vegeta smirking at him with his arms crossed. “Scared, Hiei?” he asked smugly.

“No,” Hiei lied. “Just had a small muscle spasm.”

Vegeta laughed and shook his head. “That was a good try, son, but it was the lamest excuse you’ve ever given.”

“Oh shut up,” Hiei scoffed while blushing slightly.

Bulma rolled her eyes and glared at Vegeta. “You know, next time you do that, I may die of a heart attack,” she scolded.

Vegeta’s expression softened, but his prideful smirk still remained. “I’ll try to remember.”

Bulma decided to take what she could get before taking out the movie. “I think I’m done with this one,” she said. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Hiei replied casually, trying to make it seem like he was indifferent about the whole situation. After Bulma left the room, he started to clean up the mess he made.

Vegeta watched the boy as he took the time to make sure every piece of popcorn was off the floor. He knew that the popcorn could be vacuumed up, but Hiei seemed to want to do things for himself most of the time. He had come a long way since the first day they had met. Hiei was more open about his feelings, and a lot more carefree, especially around little Bra. He and Trunks had a playful yet meaningful brotherly bond which pleased Vegeta greatly. Things had definitely happened for a reason back then and Vegeta couldn’t be happier that the little fire demon could adjust so well into their little family.

“Dad?” he heard Hiei called him. His nephew had eventually started calling him and Bulma his parents, not that he minded at all. Sometimes it was still shocking to hear, but it made Vegeta happy that he could be there for his nephew when his own brother could not. He looked to see Hiei staring at him curiously.

“Yes, Hiei,” Vegeta acknowledged.

“No pun intended,” he started, “but you just spaced out.”

Vegeta smirked when Hiei did and chuckled. “Did Trunks teach you that one?”

Hiei shrugged. “Possibly.”

“Where is the brat, anyway?” Vegeta asked.

“At Goten’s,” Hiei replied. “Kid’s nervous about tomorrow.”

“Yes, well Kakarot has the tendency to disappear for extended periods of time,” Vegeta replied. “But HE should be the nervous one. He has the harpy to deal with.”

Hiei let out a small chuckle before saying, “I bet you’re excited about his return. You’ve been training nonstop. I was worried mom was going to ban you from using the GR.”

“Well,” Vegeta began, “Kakarot won’t know what hit him when I’m done with him. What about you? I know you’ve been keeping in touch with your sister through letters, but it is the first time you’re seeing them in a year.”

“It will be good to see them,” Hiei said casually, hiding his excitement.

Vegeta’s eyebrow raised in amusement at his “son’s” antics. “Oh really? And if I were to cancel on them…”

Hiei flash him a look is disproval. “Not even funny.”

“I disagree,” Vegeta countered. “Your expression is quite amusing.”

“Oh shut up,” Hiei grumbled.

Vegeta just laughed and walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Rest up, kid. You’ve got a long day tomorrow. I’ll finish cleaning.”

“That’s strangely helpful of you,” Hiei teased while smirking. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you cared.”

Vegeta’s expression became serious as he stared into Hiei’s eyes. “I do, son, very much so.”

Likewise, Hiei’s expression softened and became more serious. “Thank you…dad.”

“No problem.” He gave Hiei a small push. “Now get to bed. Don’t think you get to skip out on your early training session tomorrow.”

“Right!” Hiei chimed before disappearing out of the room.

Vegeta finished picking up the rest of the popcorn when Bulma entered the room again, smiling at her husband. “I saw that,” she told him.

“Saw what?” he muttered.

“You know you can’t fool me with your tough guy act,” she continued to tease.

“Act?” Vegeta retorted.

“You are a good father, Vegeta, especially to Hiei,” she said happily. “I am proud at how good you are with all of them.”

“Would it surprise you if I told you I never wanted to be a father?” Vegeta asked.

“Not at all,” Bulma replied. “Would it surprise you that you used to terrify me?”

Vegeta just chuckled. “You would have been very foolish not to have been ‘terrified.’”

“I’m serious, Vegeta,” she said to bring them back to her true point. “You’ve done a good job with him. You are a wonderful father, and it is clear as day that you see him as your son. It just makes me proud to call you my husband and the father of my children.”

“Hmph, humans are so sentimental,” he jokingly scoffed, trying to hide his faint blush.

Bulma just smiled and rolled her eyes, being used to how he was. “Oh whatever. You better come to bed soon, too. If not, I think I really will start banning you from the GR.”

Vegeta growled slightly, but nodded anyway. He really did need to get some rest, especially because he felt like something was about to happen. He couldn’t figure out what it could be, but he knew it definitely didn’t have to do with Kakarot’s return or the visit from Hiei’s friends. Something else was going to happen, but Vegeta was too tired to harp on it in that moment. Maybe after getting a good night’s sleep, he’d feel better about the next day. Little did he know, there would be another visitor showing up unannounced.

* * *

Hiei was up early, ready and waiting in the Gravity Room. Surprisingly enough, Vegeta was the one who was late. That rarely ever happened, and when it did, it would be because Bulma would be giving him grief from excessive training. But right now, Bulma was still asleep and he sensed Vegeta’s ki in his room, awake. Something was up, but Hiei couldn’t figure it out.

Before he could go to check and see what was wrong, Trunks rushed into the GR, gasping for air. “Please don’t tell me I’m late,” he pleaded.

Hiei shook his head. “No, but dad is.”

“That’s…strange,” Trunks replied. “I wonder what’s up.”

“Me too, Trunks…me too.”

* * *

Vegeta didn’t feel any better. In fact, he felt worse, like something that he had worked hard for in his life was about to be uprooted. It was strange. He hadn’t felt like that since back when he first came to Earth. Back then, he tried to force himself to avoid feeling anything for Bulma because having her was just too good to be true. She would have been snatched away by someone else, including his enemies; or at least that’s what he used to believe. Over time, he lost that feeling of dread in getting close to another. Why now, after so many years, would he be feeling this way again? No one would be taking his family away from him; there was nothing to worry about.

“Hey, you ready to go?” Bulma asked him coming out of their master bathroom. They had to go pick up Bra from her friend’s, and then the spirit detective gang from the airport. There was only an hour before the plane landed, and with the crazy city traffic, they needed to leave soon.

“Yeah,” Vegeta replied while hiding his uncertainty.

Bulma smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Alright, hurry up and get dressed so we can go.”

“Fine. I’ll be down soon.”

Bulma left the room and Vegeta let out a sigh. Something was off, but maybe once they had the kids and Kakarot came back, he would feel normal again. He could only hope.

* * *

Yusuke was the first to de-board the plane. He wasn’t really used to being in small, enclosed spaces, especially with his rival/best friend for extended periods of time. He was ready to get out into the open, see Hiei, and enjoy the vacation they were finally able to take. No demons, no fighting (except for the friendly kind), just friends and some R&R.

“Hm,” Kuwabara said as they got to see outside the gate window. “Doesn’t look like a bad place. I wonder what it’s been like where the shrimp’s staying.”

“Well, if you had listened to Yukina as she read the letters, you would know,” Kurama pointed out. “He’s been very thorough in describing his home.”

“Oh, right,” Kuwabara said nervously rubbing the back of his head.

Yusuke smiled slyly at his friend. “You never really listened to the letters as much as you were making googly eyes at Hiei’s sister,” he said. He couldn’t help but remember the days where he would have to hold back those kinds of retorts. Now, he could make them whenever he wanted and fluster Kuwabara in the process.

“Shut up, Urameshi!” Kuwabara hissed as Yukina and Botan met up with them.

“What are you yelling about?” Botan shrieked. “We don’t have time for arguments. We need to get our bags so we can meet up with Hiei.”

“Well, Botan, someone’s a little excited to our little reunion, ne?” Yusuke teased while raising an eyebrow.

Botan blushed, but continued to scold them. “Hiei’s and Yukina’s family is going out of their way to pick us up as well as giving us food and shelter for our entire visit. It would be bad manners to keep them waiting and show up late because you boys had to get into it in a public place.”

“Alright, alright,” Yusuke said not wanting to be scolded like a child in front of strangers. “Let’s just go.”

The group made their way past security and to baggage claim. After gathering their personal belongings, they headed outside to wait for Hiei to show up. They were shocked when they saw a limo pull up to them. They looked at it curiously as the window went down. Hiei was smirking at them through the window.

“We didn’t have a car big enough to come get you, so we thought this would be a better solution,” he explained nonchalantly. “Get in.”

Yusuke couldn’t help but laugh at Hiei’s casual attitude. “You haven’t changed a bit, buddy,” he said before opening the door. Everyone got in and saw Vegeta and three others whom they recognized as Bulma, Trunks, and Bra, from Hiei’s letters of course.

Bra got up and moved to sit next to Yukina. “You’re my cousin,” she said happily.

Yukina looked down to the young girl and smiled. “Yes, I am.”

Bra gave Yukina a hug and said. “Big brother Hiei told me lots of stories about you. We’re going to bestest friends, okay?”

“I’d like that,” Yukina said hugging the little girl back. She looked over to Bulma who was grinning at her and felt a similar feeling that Hiei had when he first met Bulma. She looked a lot like their mother. “Hi,” Yukina said quietly, almost shyly.

“Hello,” Bulma chimed happily. “It’s great to finally meet you, Yukina. I’m Bulma.”

“I know,” Yukina responded smiling over to Hiei. “My brother told me about all of you in his letters.”

“He’s told us a lot about you, too,” Trunks spoke up. “Dad did too. It’s really _cool_ that we have another cousin.”

Hiei scoffed at Trunks attempt at humor. “Do you really have to use puns? That’s kind of below us, isn’t it?” Trunks blushed and all of the guys laughed except for Vegeta who just chuckled.

“It’s fine,” Yukina said giggling.

“Well, when we get back to Capsule Corp., please make yourselves at home,” Bulma said. “Hiei and Trunks will show you to the guest rooms and then we’ll have lunch. We’re getting visitors later too.”

“Sounds good to me,” Yusuke exclaimed. “I’m starving.”

“Yusuke!” Botan shouted. “That’s rude.”

Trunks laughed at the outburst. “No, it’s fine. We feel that way all the time. You’ll see what I mean later.”

“Um, okay then…” Botan surrendered.

“Alright then,” Bulma stated. “Let’s head home.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters.

When everyone arrived at Capsule Corp., the guys were impressed with their friend’s living conditions. It amazed them that a guy who used to sleep in trees for weeks at a time was now accustomed to living in a high-tech mansion with indoor gardens and too many rooms to count. Hiei motioned for them to follow him and Trunks as they showed them to the guest rooms. Bra followed closely, holding Yukina’s hand giving Vegeta and Bulma time to talk.

“What’s up?” she asked him. “You’ve been acting off all morning. You feeling okay?” Vegeta grunted a false affirmative, but Bulma could see right through him. “Okay, now you’re worrying me.”

“It’s nothing,” Vegeta lied. He knew he had to think of something quick, though. He sighed, knowing he would forever regret what he was about to do. “I just think I’ve been overdoing it with the training lately. You were right about cutting back.”

Bulma’s face blanched before she threw her hands up in the air. “Finally!” she shouted. “It’s only taken you over twenty years to actually admit that. I better call the papers.”

Vegeta made a face at her and said, “Don’t get used to it, woman. I will likely never say anything like that again.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bulma replied smirking at her mate. “Once was quite enough for me. Anyways, you go sit down while I get the bots started on lunch. It shouldn’t be too long.”

“Fine,” Vegeta grumbled as he unwillingly sat down at the table. He only hoped that his children and their guests would be down soon, so as to distract him from whatever this panicked feeling was.

As he thought this, they all came downstairs, well, except for Hiei and Yukina. Vegeta looked over to Trunks and asked, “Where’s Hiei?”

“Helping Yukina unpack,” Trunks responded nonchalantly moving to grab an apple. He took a bite and swallowed before continuing. “I think he just wants to talk to her, though.”

“Heh,” Yusuke chuckled. “You’ll be lucky if you can ever get him to admit that.”

“I can relate,” Bulma stated from the table. She looked over Vegeta, who crossed his arms and pouted. He was right; he regretted his lie already. “Still, Hiei needs to get something to eat now.”

“Huh?” Kuwabara said in confusion. He looked to Yusuke who just shrugged.

“Hiei,” Bulma called upstairs. “Lunch is ready.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Hiei groaned.

Bulma huffed, not liking his answer at all. “Hiei, get your anorexic butt down here this instant or, so help me, I will shove the food down your throat.”

“Mom!” Hiei shouted in embarrassment. Not even a minute later, Hiei was down the stairs, Yukina following. “I’m here now,” he muttered, “happy?”

Bulma just smiled victoriously. She was two for two today. “Very. Now eat something.” And of course, she added a mountain full of food to his plate.

“Dang, Hiei,” Yusuke laughed. “You got to eat all of that?”

“It’s really not that big a deal,” Trunks said while adding and equally large mountain full to his plate. “That’s about a normal portion for a demi-Saiyan. Bro always tries to eat less, though, which is why mom is nagging at him.”

Hiei blushed under the scrutiny of his friends and just started munching on the food.

“Aw, well there’s no reason to be embarrassed Hiei,” Botan said. “It’s perfectly fine for a guy to have a healthy appetite.” For some reason that only made Hiei blush more, which didn’t go unnoticed by both Kurama and Vegeta. They could pick up on those things.

“Well, if we’re all done pestering the boy,” Vegeta started, “how have things been in Japan? Anymore demon attacks?”

“Well, not really,” Yusuke answered. “The only recent attack was a year ago.” The rest went unspoken. That meant that the last demon attacks were Frieza and the demon he hired to expose Hiei’s Saiyan power and destroy him.

“That’s a relief,” Hiei said calmly after taking a drink. “How’s the old lady?”

“Genkai’s great,” Yukina chimed happily. “She sends her regards as well. She has a few new students, so she couldn’t make the trip with us, but I think she misses you.”

Hiei smiled at this. He had never once been missed let alone cared for, and now he was both and very grateful. He was finally happy with his life and how he was living it. His friends and sister were here, going out of their way to visit him. Nothing could have ruined this day.

Out of nowhere, everyone sensed a large energy that they hadn’t been expecting. “W-What is that?” Yusuke asked.

Vegeta just smirked. “It’s about time, Kakarot,” he muttered.

“Who?” Kuwabara asked. “Oh right, that guy who came with you.”

“Yeah,” Trunks said. “He’s been training this kid for the last couple of years and is coming back to visit his wife, kids, and friends. It’s been a while since I sensed his energy. It feels like he’s gotten a lot stronger.”

Vegeta’s smirk became a challenging grin. “Yes, well so have I, and this time I will be ready for anything.” He only hoped that this battle with his long-time rival and friend wouldn’t be interrupted. What were the chances of that happening again, anyway?

“Anyway, it feels like he just reached his home in the mountains,” Hiei stated, “meaning they should be here in a few minutes.”

“Yes, and then baldy and the tin can should be coming later with their daughter,” Vegeta figured.

Bulma put her hands on her hips and huffed. “Can’t you ever call anyone by their real name?”

Vegeta smirked. “Well, _woman_ , why don’t you tell me?”

“You’re unbelievable,” Bulma mumbled.

“Thank you,” Vegeta said with pride.

Trunks and Hiei couldn’t help but snicker at the exchange.

“Um,” Botan said to Hiei, “shouldn’t we stop this before a fight breaks out?”

“It’s fine,” Hiei told her, a little nervous by such close proximity to Botan. “This is normal behavior for them.”

Botan was about to respond when a group of people appeared in the middle of the kitchen, one of them concentrating very hard. The other five consisted of a middle-aged woman with black hair, two other men with black hair, and a woman with short, black hair and blue eyes holding a young child who also had black hair. They were holding on to Goku and let go once they were in the kitchen.

“Hey,” Goku exclaimed. “What’s up?”

“Well, Kakarot, you sure know how to make an entrance,” Vegeta said getting up and crossing his arms, “but there is something called a ‘door.’”

“Yeah, I know,” Goku replied. “Hey, Bulma.”

“Hi, Goku,” Bulma greeted from her spot at the counter, singlehandedly dissipating any of the tension between her best friend and husband.

“Oh hey, Trunks,” one of the guys chimed. “Last night was awesome.”

“Last night?” Bulma and the middle-aged woman both asked with their arms crossed.

“Good going, Goten,” Trunks muttered as Hiei sweat-dropped.

“Just another ordinary day,” the fire demon stated before everyone introduced themselves to one another.

* * *

“So what time are Krillin and Eighteen getting here?” Goku asked.

Vegeta shrugged. “A while. I don’t know what time the woman invited them for.”

“Hey, you okay Vegeta? You seem grouchier than usually,” the younger Saiyan pointed out.

“Wha…Bah,” Vegeta exclaimed flabbergasted. “Shut up, Kakarot. I am fine. Just excited for our battle.”

“Oh yeah,” Goku exclaimed happily. “Me too. I’ve gotten a lot stronger, plus it’s been a while.”

“Yes, we always seem to get interrupted,” Vegeta grumbled.

“Still, something seems to be bothering you,” Goku said with concern. “You can tell me, you know…”

Vegeta looked away from his long-time rival to his kids, his adopted son, and their guests fooling around. Hiei looked a little overwhelmed, but he seemed happy. The elder Saiyan knew that he would probably never be used to large crowds, unless given a lot more time to adjust to them, but he was happy to see him happy. The fire demon finally looked like he belonged somewhere, and that was what he deserved.

“Tell me, Kakarot,” Vegeta started. “Have you ever felt like something was going to disappear, like it was too good to be true?”

Goku’s face blanked when Vegeta asked his question. The younger warrior had never thought like that in his life. Ever since he was a kid he felt happy over the smallest things, and with the Dragon Balls being so easy to find with Bulma’s radar, he knew he took a lot for granted. “Honestly, no,” Goku answered.

“Heh,” Vegeta laughed before forcing a smug smirk onto his face. “Listen to me. Most fearsome fighter in the universe, whose name struck fear into the hearts of unsuspecting fools, getting philosophical. This planet has made me soft.”

Goku smiled at that, knowing that it wasn’t an insult anymore. “That’s not such a bad thing, you know. Honestly, I think it was the best thing to ever happen.”

Vegeta looked over to Goku in shock. The younger Saiyan just grinned at him and looked over to Hiei and his group of friends. “If you hadn’t come here, you would have never found out about him. He would have never been in a stable home if it hadn’t been for you and Bulma.”

“Right,” Vegeta responded. Just then, he sensed a familiar energy and his blood ran cold. Goku’s expression also changed.

“What would he be doing here?” Goku asked Vegeta.

“I…I don’t…” That was all Vegeta managed to say before a space pod landed in the middle of their backyard.

* * *

Hiei stared at the strange sphere in shock. He knew he was part alien, thus things like space pods existed, but it was impossible to take away the shock. Still, the pod fascinated him; but before he could walk closer to the machine to study it further, Trunks stopped him. Hiei grew frustrated and turned to scold his brother, but refrained from doing so when he saw his brother’s panicked expression. Now he assumed it was an enemy and was ready to fight.

Sensing his nephew’s increased ki, Vegeta walked over to the boys and stood in front of Hiei protectively. Though he knew this ship did not contain an enemy, he didn’t know how Hiei would react to who really was inside.

The door to the ship opened revealing Vegeta’s younger brother, Tarble, and his sister-in-law, Gure. “Vegeta!” the young Saiyan happily exclaimed. He was about to run over to him, but noticed his defensive stance. His eyebrow quirked. “Brother, are you okay?”

At hearing the word “brother,” Hiei pushed around Vegeta and gasped. Standing in front of him was a short Saiyan, shorter than his uncle, with short, spiked hair that resembled his own. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was his father, the man who left him, his sister, and their mother. This was the man that betrayed them.

Vegeta looked on in worry as he watched he gears in Hiei’s head click into place. When the boy’s expression turned into of hurt and defeat, he knew he had to get him away from his brother. “Trunks, take Hiei inside,” he ordered.

This snapped both boys out of their stupor. “But dad,” the both tried. But after Hiei called him that, he looked back to the younger prince. Tarble was looking at him with confusion in his eyes. Acceptance flashed across his face and he closed his eyes before his hardened mask returned.

“Hn, don’t bother,” he scoffed. “I don’t need babysitting.” And with that, Hiei flitted back into his home and everything Vegeta had hoped to help him bury returned ten times over.

Yukina’s soft expression saddened before she walked over to Vegeta. “I’ll go talk to him, Uncle Vegeta,” she whispered. She looked back at the man who was supposedly hers and Hiei’s father, and then ran inside.

“Uncle?” Tarble said under his breath. Vegeta heard, but said nothing. Then Tarble’s eyes widened. “Hey, she looks a lot like…”

“Who?” Kurama asked a little harshly while glaring at him. “Who does she look like?”

All of a sudden, guilt flashed across the young prince’s face. “No one,” he lied.

Kurama’s glare darkened before he too ran after Yukina to try and comfort his friend.

“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” Yusuke growled before motioning for Botan and Kuwabara to follow him. It was their first day there, and they were not going to let a moment like this ruin this fun experience for their friend.

“Vegeta,” Tarble started awkwardly, “what’s going on? Who were those people?”

At that, Vegeta couldn’t contain himself any longer. “Oh, you don’t recognize your kids, hm?” he sneered.

“Tarble has children?” Gure asked before smiling naively. “Oh, that’s wonderful! Which ones were they?”

“You can ask Tarble,” Vegeta growled looking at his younger brother, “although, as I said, he wouldn’t recognize them.”

“H-How?” Tarble inquired.

“How?” Vegeta asked in an annoyed shock. “Well, you met their mother and then left her to deal with two children and the prejudice of her people, that’s how.”

“Prejudice of her people?” Tarble questioned.

Vegeta shook his head. Tarble obviously knew nothing about the ice village or the woman he had been with; however, it was not his place to tell him. “Not important, at least not now,” Vegeta replied calmly.

“That girl called you ‘uncle,’” his younger brother pointed out. “So she’s my daughter, right? And that boy, the one with hair like mine…my son? Wait, he called you ‘dad.’ Why?”

“When I found out about him, Bulma and I adopted him,” Vegeta answered.

Tarble’s expression slightly darkened. “When?”

“A year ago,” Vegeta told him.

Tarble shook his head and the ground started crackling underneath him. “You’ve known for that long, and you didn’t even think to tell me I had children?” he asked with his fists clenched trying to reign in his angry energy. “What were you thinking?”

Goku raised his hand up and whispered to Bulma that they should probably grab Gure and leave the two of them alone. Bulma was about to asked why when the ki each warrior possessed cracked the ground underneath them. “I think you’re right, Goku,” she agreed. “Hey, Gure, why don’t you join us inside?”

“I’d love to,” she replied obliviously before skipping over to her sister-in-law.

“You kept this from me and then adopted him,” Tarble growled. “How could you?”

“How could I?” Vegeta asked with his arms crossed. “How could you abandon them? How could you leave a woman carrying your children?”

“I didn’t know!” Tarble shouted. “I swear.”

Vegeta sighed and his energy went down. Tarble was too good-hearted to lie about something like this, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t in the wrong. “Whatever…”

The two stood in silence before Tarble asked, “How did you find him?”

Vegeta felt he could at least tell Tarble this much about Hiei. “He turned Super Saiyan after a fight and Kakarot and I sensed him. We flew to where his energy was and I trained him.”

“My son turned Super Saiyan?” Tarble asked in amazement.

Vegeta grimaced. “MY son,” he emphasized, “became a Super Saiyan and I found him, trained him, and brought him home with me.”

Tarble didn’t like the fact that his brother was acting this way. If Hiei was his son, then his brother shouldn’t try to take that away from him. “I want to talk to him. And what about their mother? Why would she let them stay here with you?”

Vegeta started to walk back to the house. “Their mother is dead,” he explained to his brother, leaving the shocked, younger Saiyan alone in the yard.

* * *

Vegeta found the others in the den with one of the many game systems. Trunks, Goten, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were playing some sort of karaoke game. He took a glance over to the window and saw Hiei resting his head on his knees staring outside, frustration and anger in his eyes. The Saiyan prince walked over to him and leaned his back against the wall. “Are you all right, son?” he asked comfortingly.

Hiei’s angered expression softened as he looked down into his knees that his head had been resting on. “What is he doing here?” he grumbled.

“I didn’t know he was heading this way,” Vegeta admitted. “If I had known, I would have told him to save his surprise visit and talk to you first before inviting him in. His social conventions obviously need some work.”

Hiei couldn’t help but chuckle at that, a small smile lighting up his troubled face. “I guess,” he joked.

Vegeta smirked slightly before he and Hiei heard Goten’s wailing some love song. They looked over, sneering at the sound, Hiei glaring when he saw the boy blatantly flirting, singing to Botan. He felt a small burning sensation in his stomach, but didn’t know why he was feeling that way. He decided to ignore the foreign feeling and stare out the window again.

Trunks looked over to Hiei to see his brother moping about the new situation. He had come such a long way, and Trunks didn’t want to see it go to waste. Knowing that he would probably be in for a world of hurt later, he decided to take a chance. “Hey, you guys, did you know Hiei could sing?”

Hiei tensed when he heard Trunks tell that little piece of information to his friends. He turned slowly to look at the group who were all staring at him, waiting for him to comment. “Hn, liar,” he retorted, even though he was the one who was lying.

Trunks smirked. “Oh really?” he taunted as he chose the next song, an American song called “Blame it on the Love of Rockin’ Roll” by Bon Jovi. “Isn’t this your favorite song?”

This made Vegeta chuckle, starting a chain reaction of Hiei glaring at him, then at Trunks, before he finally sighed in defeat, walked over to the group, and grabbed the karaoke microphone out of his brother’s hand.

His friends watched in amazement as Hiei sung the song perfectly. Yukina smiled when she saw that he brother had finally started to loosen up after their very trying day. Meanwhile, oblivious to all of their thoughts, Hiei contemplated the best way to torment his brother later smirking at some of the ideas he had.

Vegeta watched on, pleased that Hiei was calmer now, and acting like his normal self. He grimaced, though, as he sensed his brother’s energy heading towards the den. Turning to the doorway, he glared, and when Tarble entered the room, he was met with his brother’s forceful glare and cringed. Attempting to ignore it, he looked over to his two children nervously picking out all of the similarities Hiei shared with him and Yukina shared with _her_. He still couldn’t believe he was a father, that he had two children, whom weren’t really children anymore, he still had yet to know. He truly wanted them to return to Gure’s home world with them so that he could learn more about them.

However, when his son finally realized he was in the room and stopped singing, the world seemed to stand still. The glare that Hiei flashed his way told him that his desire to be a happy family would not come easily.

Hiei didn’t take his eyes off of Tarble as he handed the microphone back to Trunks and walked back over to his “father” and took his seat on the windowsill. It saddened Tarble not only because it meant that Hiei felt that he needed Vegeta’s protection and not his, but the fact that he needed Vegeta’s protection _from_ him. An awkward sense washed over everyone in the room as the others continued to sing the karaoke songs. One thing was certain; their surprise visitors were not going to make this supposed vacation any easier.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or YYH or the characters.

Hiei was staring up at his bedroom ceiling, not thinking about anything. He was willing himself not to think and giving himself a headache by doing so. But he didn’t care about the pain if it meant avoiding a pointless reflection that wouldn’t help him deal with his newest problem. How could he have ever prepared himself for this?

The fire demon sighed as his thoughts slipped away from him. He finally surrendered and pondered the situation he found himself in. He had finally been at peace, or as much peace as a parentless ex-thief could be. Hiei had grown to see Bulma and Vegeta as his parents. He had finally belonged somewhere. Now some random guy, his true father who had never been there, was threatening that peace, and Hiei didn’t like it one bit. All he could think was how everything got so complicated, and also how long it would stay that way.

* * *

“Hey guys…where did Hiei go?” Botan inquired bringing everyone’s attention to the fact that Hiei was no longer in the room.

Yusuke looked confused. He hadn’t even seen Hiei get up and leave. “How did he-?”

“Former thief, remember,” Kurama pointed out. “It’s a survival skill we had to possess.”

“He was a thief?” Tarble asked. “Why?”

All eyes landed on Tarble, full of anger. “We are not going to talk about our friend behind his back with someone we barely know,” Yusuke stated in a strangely calm voice. Then he turned away from Tarble and looked to the other guys. “So who’s going to talk to him first?”

“I think the girl should go,” Vegeta stated nonchalantly. “Botan.”

“Me?” Botan asked in confusion. “Why me?”

“Just trust me,” Vegeta told her. “It would benefit him.”

“Well, alright then, I’ll go.” Botan stood up from her place on the couch and left the room.

Tarble looked over to his brother and asked, “Is she his mate?”

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Tarble. His brother had some nerve showing up without even giving any warning. On Earth, it was bad manners. For Vegeta, it was a much worse offense than that. And now his brother was asking him questions about Hiei. Yes, they were things Vegeta could pick up from observing his adopted son, but that was the thing. _HE_ could observe it _; HE_ knew what the boy needed; and _HE_ would continue to act as Hiei’s father because he truly loved the boy as his own. “That is none of your concern,” he snarled slightly baring his teeth.

“Of course it’s my concern!” Tarble shouted defensively.

“Um, just to point out, you can’t just walk in here and decide that,” Kuwabara told the younger Saiyan prince. “It’s Hiei’s decision.”

Tarble frowned over at the human boy who was sitting close to his daughter, not liking what he was being told. His expression softened when he saw the fallen expression of his daughter. It reminded him so much of her mother. “Hey, your name is Yukina, right?” Noticing his daughter tilt her head in slight confusion, he said, “Bulma told me.” Then he shot a glare over to Vegeta who just scoffed in derision in return.

Yukina looked slightly nervous and flashed a worried glance to Kuwabara before responding. “Yes, it is,” she said both quietly and politely making Tarble smile at the acceptance. “And you’re Tarble.”

Tarble’s smile at Yukina’s first words disappeared. He didn’t like hearing her use his name when he was her father. “Um, yeah. Anyway, can we talk?”

The room went silent, all of the guys ready to take down Tarble if he did or said anything to hurt Yukina. “No,” Yukina said just as politely before. Tarble’s expression became one of hurt at being shot down by the girl. “I’m sorry; but it would be a betrayal to my brother. Plus, this is a lot to take in today, and I’m not ready to talk with you about it.”

Yukina flashed Kuwabara another glance, silently asking for help. Kuwabara sent her a weak smile in return. “Come on, Yukina. I’ll help you unpack.”

“Hey, didn’t Hiei help her with that earlier?” Goten asked, earning him an elbow in the side from Trunks, and also a disapproving frown.

Yukina just bowed silently saying goodbye to her friends and let Kuwabara take her out of the room. She looked over to her uncle whose silent expression told her everything would be okay. He waved slightly to her and she smiled back at him before running off with her boyfriend to process everything that had happened that day.

Tarble watched her leave and then turned back to the others in the room. They were ALL glaring at him and he was nervous with all of the tension in the room. He was thankful when someone entered Capsule Corp.

“Hey, where’s the party?” Krillin asked loudly. It was enough of a distraction for Tarble to slip out of the room. Trying to sneak off somewhere to try and think, the young Saiyan crashed directly into Goku who had his arms crossed and was looking at him with a stern expression.

“Let’s talk,” Goku suggested, willing to hear Tarble out; however, no matter what was said, he knew things would be crazy for his best friend whose world had just been turned upside-down, the young fire demon who was abandoned, and the kind-hearted ice maiden who didn’t know how to react to meeting her father.

* * *

Hiei sighed for what seemed like the millionth time in the last few hours. Part of him wanted to go bang his head against the wall. He felt like his body was just so tense and full of stress, yet he had no desire to leave the safety of his room. If he went to go try and train this tension away, chances were he would run into Tarble and he didn’t want to deal with it yet, or ever.

A knock at his door caused him to sit up quickly. He didn’t move to answer it, but just sat in fear waiting for someone to come in. Afraid it was Tarble, he just pretended not to be there.

“Hiei, it’s me,” he heard Botan’s voice say from the other side. He let out the breath he’d been holding and moved to answer the door.

When she was in view, his hardened mask was already on his face. “What do you want?” he said snappishly in a monotonous voice.

Botan looked incredibly nervous and bit her lip. She looked up to the ceiling, her arms meeting behind her back. “Oh nothing…I was just coming to check on you. I was worried.”

Hiei’s expression softened at the sincerity in her voice and stepped aside to let her in. She smiled at him, her eyes lighting up. He was thankful when she looked away to study his room because he did not want her to see the blush that dusted his cheeks.

“Wow, I would have never pegged you to be into rock bands,” she said to him as she looked at the posters on his wall.

Hiei snapped out of his stupor, though the blush still coated his face. “Yeah, well mom wanted Trunks and I to bond somehow without training, and he wanted me to go with him and Goten to a concert. We go every so often if it’s like a new band and it isn’t AS crowded as the first concert they brought me too. That was the only thing I didn’t like…too crowded.”

Botan turned around to face him. “You seem to really like it here,” she said happily. “I’m so happy for you.”

Hiei looked away from her, slightly frowning. “I do like it here,” he told her. “I just don’t like _him_ being here.”

Botan’s face fell, not wanting to see him upset. “I know, Hiei,” she said softly, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He sighed again as she gently sat them down on his bed. “I already know the answer to ‘Are you okay?’ so I will ask…how are you holding up?”

“I’ll be fine,” he replied pulling his knees to him and resting his chin on top.

Botan sighed. “Hiei, be honest. You were not expecting this and it bothers you. None of us want you holding anything in. We’re your friends, and it will only hurt you to keep things bottled up.”

She looked over to him to see his head now resting on its side as his eyes bored into hers. She blinked a few times as they stared at each other. “Just a question, but when did we become friends?” Hiei asked, though it wasn’t to be rude. Botan heard the genuine curiosity in his voice and smiled.

“Well, I always considered you as mine,” she admitted. “I mean, we _have_ spent a lot of time together, so yeah…we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Hiei smiled slightly, still not sitting back up. “Hn, never would have guessed.”

Before Botan could ask him what he meant, there was another knock on the door. The two looked over, Hiei finally releasing his legs to the floor. “Who is it?” he called out.

“Dinner’s ready and mom wants you downstairs in ten seconds,” he heard Trunks say from the other side.

“Kay,” Hiei replied. He looked to Botan to see her wide smile and was taken aback. “What?” he stated questioningly.

Botan giggled. “You just sounded so casual. It’s cute.”

Hiei blushed again but cleared his throat and stood up. “Let’s go before my mother advertises my eating habits again.”

“Sure,” Botan said gracefully jumping to her feet. “Let’s go.”

Hiei flashed her a small, yet thankful smile before they moved to leave his room. He let her out, acting more like a gentleman thanks to his mother and her many threats to put triple the amount of food on his plate too many times. Hiei silently chuckled at the thought as Botan walked out and over to the stairs. He looked back into his room for a brief moment before closing the door. At hearing Bulma call his name, he knew he needed to hurry down.

* * *

“So, what’s the story?” Goku asked calmly, waiting for the youngest full-blooded Saiyan to explain.

Tarble sighed in frustration. “Do NOT tell Vegeta…anything.”

“You have my word,” Goku agreed.

“Okay,” Tarble relented. “I was sent away from Planet Vegeta when I was young because I was a royal with a third-class power level. My father was embarrassed and sent me away. I ended up on Gure’s planet and her people raised me. I may not have been raised by ‘Saiyan standards,’ but they never kept the fact that I was a Saiyan away from me. I ended up wanting to return one day, before I found out about Frieza…

“Gure’s people helped me prepare a ship to travel to Planet Vegeta. Something happened with the auto-pilot, though and I ended up heading towards the Earth at a fast rate. I remember seeing some kind of hole opening, but I didn’t pay attention to it. I was terrified of how fast I was going. Then, I eventually crashed and my ship was pretty banged up. I had gotten injured in the crash and passed out. When I came to, it was a week later and I was in some type of tent.” Tarble stopped speaking for a moment as he thought back.

_Tarble groaned in pain, sitting up noticing that his shirt was off, but he felt completely healed. He was just hungry by the time he woke up and it felt like it had been days since he had any food. He looked around. The tent was pretty much bare except for a table with a few candles on it and a bed._

_A rustling at the tent entrance caught his attention, and a woman of medium height, though taller than him, entered into the tent. “Oh good, you’re awake,” she said with a smile._

_Tarble felt something shift inside of him at the sound of her kind voice. The woman had blue hair, which he had never seen before being on a planet full of bald aliens. “Um, yeah,” Tarble replied nervously. “What happened?”_

_The woman just giggled at him. He just stared at her strangely. “I’m sorry; but you just look so intense. It just clashes with your features.”_

_Tarble relax a little bit, realizing that he had indeed been tense. Even his tail was rigid with nerves, but he had no reason to be. It was obvious that this woman had helped him, and he was thankful. “Yeah, I guess. I just didn’t expect to crash.”_

_“I’m sure,” the woman said now frowning. “When I saw you, you were very far away from the machine you had. I didn’t set up camp too far away from it, and so when I was out gathering for food I saw you. You had a few broken bones and a lot of cuts, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.”_

_“Wait,” Tarble said, not understanding what the woman had said, “you healed me?”_

_“Of course,” she answered. “All of my people have healing abilities.”_

_“Your people? Where are we?”_

_Tarble noticed her frown, but then her smile returned. “I am an ice maiden, and we are in Demon World.”_

_“Demon World?” Tarble said cocking his head to the side. “What planet is that?”_

_“Planet?” the woman asked. “Oh, I understand now. You’re an alien, right? I hear other demons say that they come across humans that think their aliens. Well, then, we are on Planet Earth, but in a different dimension where humans can’t get to.”_

_“Oh,” Tarble said, unsure of what dimensional travel actually meant. “I don’t know how to get back…”_

_The woman just walked over to the bed and sat down close to him. The young Saiyan felt his cheeks heat up, and didn’t know what that meant. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “It’ll be okay. Dimensional distortions appear all the time, and if you have supplies, I’m sure you can fix it, right?”_

_“Was it intact?” Tarble questioned hopefully. He knew the basics of engineering, or else his adoptive family would have never let him leave the planet._

_“I believe so,” the woman told him. “I’ve never seen a spaceship before, so I don’t know.”_

_“That’s fine,” Tarble said with a nod. “I should be able to fix any minor damage. By the way, what’s your name?”_

_“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Hina,” she replied softly._

_“I’m Tarble.”_

“So you met her when you crash landed?” Goku asked with a brow raised.

Tarble smiled. “Yeah, I did. And even though the damage to the ship was minor, it still took a few days, and I had to wait for a dimensional distortion to appear, so that I could return home. Before then, I don’t know…Hina and I just got really close. I honestly didn’t want to leave and I was considering staying. We had this amazing night together, and I was willing to stay with her forever. I would have found a way to contact my family and tell them, but the next day I couldn’t find her anywhere. I just found a note telling me that a distortion had opened nearby and it would hold for a few hours. She said she wasn’t coming back and that she wished me the best. It tore me apart when I read that, but knowing that I couldn’t have a life with her and that I only had few chances to get home, I needed to go. I buried the memory of that night because it hurt too much to think about her.”

“I get it,” Goku said with a nod. “And I understand that you were hurt too, but you have to think about what Hiei and Yukina are going through. Yukina was, according to Hiei, raised by their mother’s friend. Something really bad happened that separated the two from birth. Only Vegeta and Bulma know the full story to what that was. Yukina didn’t even know Hiei was her brother until a year ago even though she knew him for years.”

“Why?” Tarble asked in both shock and horror.

Goku shrugged. “Hiei wouldn’t tell her.” The older Saiyan sighed. “Look, just give them time to adjust before you start demanding they spend time with you. The relationship will only be strained more.”

“But Vegeta won’t let me be a father to them,” Tarble shouted. “How am I supposed to fix things with them? It’s not my fault that I didn’t know. I would have been there. I wouldn’t have been like my father, sending both of his kids away for his own selfish reasons.”

“That’s enough!” Both Goku and Tarble froze when they heard Vegeta’s voice. They turned to see him standing near the door to the backyard, glaring daggers at both of them.

“Oh, hey Vegeta,” Goku said with a smile. “We were just coming back inside.”

Vegeta scoffed but nodded at his friend. He shot his glare over to Tarble, though, and snarled slightly before turning tale and heading back inside. Tarble sighed and started to walk into the house. He knew his time to talk with Goku was over, but he really had more he wanted to get off of his chest. There was something else bothering him about the whole situation. Vegeta had said that Hina was subjected to the prejudice of her people. He knew she was an ice maiden, but he didn’t know what that meant. The only other person that he could think to ask was Yukina since she was also an ice maiden, but she didn’t want to talk to him. But he still needed to know. Tarble looked around the kitchen to find it empty, but food still out.

“Oh boy, I’m starved!” Goku cheered before racing over to the stacks of remaining food.

* * *

“So…what are we going to do about Hiei?” Goten asked. “I mean, I remember when I met my dad for the first time, but I was excited. Hiei didn’t seem to like Tarble very much.”

“There’s a lot going on that you don’t know about,” Trunks explained to Goten, frowning as he thought of the conversations and breakdowns he picked up on when Hiei started living with them. “Let’s just say Tarble coming here was the last thing he needed.”

“I agree,” Kurama replied. “Hiei is not very comfortable with change, and he went through a lot of change this year. He had finally adjusted, and now more will change in his life than he was ready for.”

“He sounds paranoid,” Goten joked. When he saw the look on everyone’s faces, he frowned. “What did I say?”

“Hiei is paranoid,” Yusuke stated. “He only lets his guard down with people he trusts.”

“Wow, you’ve become perceptive, Urameshi,” Kuwabara teased.

“Yeah, well, I do have my moments,” he said. “By the way, how is Yukina handling this?”

Kuwabara’s face fell. “I haven’t seen her cry so much since after we rescued her from Tarukane. She doesn’t know what to think right now, especially because she hasn’t gotten to talk to Hiei about it. Part of her wants to get to know Tarble, just because it’s in her nature to care about all of her family, but she’s worried Hiei will get mad at her. Then she worries about a lot of other stuff that I don’t understand. Those ice maidens screwed them both up royally, and I just wish they could get past it.”

“And that’s what we’re here for,” Yusuke said to his friend, smacking his hand on his back. “We’re the best distractions they have right now, and we will help them through this.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea for that,” Trunks spoke up. Everyone turned to face him. “Well, I heard from someone at the company say that the fair is opening tomorrow. I figured I would bring it up at dinner, but things were just too tense in there tonight.”

“Yeah, I gotcha,” Yusuke said. “It’s been a while since I saw Hiei confused by anyone, but the way he was looking at Gure with disgust and Yukina looking at her with sadness…this is just crazy.”

“Exactly, so we all go to the fair…well, us, you guys, Hiei Yukina, Botan, and Bra is definitely going to want to tag along. It will just be a day for us to distract them away from Tarble and Gure, and away from whatever rivalry dad and Tarble will be forcing upon all of us.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Kurama agreed. “Besides, it will be good for bonding time for Hiei and Yukina. They haven’t had that much since the truth came out.”

“Then it’s decided,” Trunks exclaimed happily. “I’ll go let my mom know. We’ll go early for breakfast to avoid running into anyone in the morning.”

As the guys made their plans, they didn’t notice that Tarble was listening right outside the den. The Saiyan’s face fell when he heard what his daughter’s supposed boyfriend said. The ice maidens had definitely done something to his children and he could only wonder what his two kids had to go through, especially without their mother. He was determined to find out what his brother meant by the “prejudice of her people,” and his first plan of action was to talk to Bulma about it. Surely she would know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own YYH, DBZ, or the characters.
> 
> I hope everyone checks out dragoscilvio’s story What You Saiyan, as well as her one-shot to the series, White Christmas, giving insight to Hiei’s first year with the Briefs’ family.

Hiei didn’t know how his brother managed to get him to agree to this day of torture. It was one thing to drag him to a concert for fun, or even to a fighting match to unwind. Hiei never expected to be dragged to an amusement park. He had never been to one before, but he did not like the idea of being exposed to so many contraptions. Rigged games, faulty rides, and stomachache inducing food were the only things he expected to be exposed to during the day. Oh well, at least he was with his friends, his brother, and sisters. He couldn’t help but be happy to get out of the house.

“So, what should we ride first?” Goten asked.

“Roller coaster!” Bra exclaimed from Hiei’s shoulders. Hiei chuckled at his little sister, holding onto her legs and ignoring the fact that she was pulling on his hair.

“Aren’t you a little young to be riding a roller coaster?” Kuwabara asked, taking Yukina’s hand as they got on line for tickets. Bra just responded by sticking her tongue out at the older guy.

“Bra, knock it off,” Trunks scolded. “What did mom say about that?”

“She said ‘don’t stick your tongue out at others because it’s not lady-like, nor is it how a princess should act,’” Bra recited.

“That’s right,” Trunks said with a nod.

“But dad said ‘if it’s to someone weaker than you, go ahead,’” Bra finished.

Hiei couldn’t help but laugh at how insulted Kuwabara looked. Despite accepting the oaf as his friend, it was still fun to mess with him. Also, to hear a young child say she’s stronger than him probably took him down a few pegs. Hiei realized that it was the first time he laughed since before Tarble arrived. His expression darkened as he began to think of his biological father.

Botan noticed first, having been about to ask Hiei what he wanted to do. The little girl on his shoulders was oblivious, as were the other guys. She decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Hey, why don’t you guys get the tickets while Hiei and I take Bra to get a cotton candy,” she suggested. Hiei looked to her as if she were nuts, but saw the concern in her eyes and bit back his retort.

“Sure, sounds like a plan,” Kurama stated. “We’ll meet you over there.”

Hiei sighed and shrugged, taking Botan up on her offer.

* * *

Tarble woke up fairly early, all things considered, around nine o’clock. The house was surprisingly quiet. The Saiyan prince expected to find his children, niece and nephew, and their friends running around. There was no way that the house could be that quiet with so many people around.

Gure was still asleep, so it was the perfect opportunity to talk to his kids again, or at least someone who knew about Hiei’s past and Hina’s people. From what his older brother implied, he knew, but he would never reveal that information to him. The only other option was…

“Oh, good morning, Tarble,” Bulma greeted from her spot at the dining room table. She was currently working on some paperwork for a new invention. “Breakfast is in the fridge. I had to make it early for the kids.”

“Where are they?” Tarble asked, hoping for an answer.

“Oh, Trunks thought it would be a good idea to go to some amusement park,” Bulma said absentmindedly. “It’s good that they’re all bonding. Hiei hasn’t seen his friends since he came to live with us.”

“About that,” Tarble said, “what did my brother mean when he talked about their mother’s people?”

Bulma stopped reading over her equations and looked at Tarble skeptically. She sighed and shook her head before continuing. “It is not my place to tell you. I can only discuss it with you if Vegeta feels the need to first, or if Hiei or Yukina decide to tell you. I already gave you too much information with telling you where they are.”

“Why did you tell me?” Tarble continued to interrogate.

“To see if you will do right by them and just let them relax and unwind for the day with their friends,” Bulma told him. “If you can prove yourself to me, I’ll be a little more inclined to give you minimal information on Hiei; however, if do anything to upset my boy, you will never hear another word from me on the topic and will find yourself on the end of a very powerful and Saiyan-proof bat.”

Tarble gulped in fear of his sister-in-law, but nodded. Her protective demeanor was replaced with a soft smile. “As long as we have an understanding,” she said.

Bulma left the kitchen, leaving Tarble alone again. He eyed the fridge, wanting to eat, but he wanted something else first. He wanted to talk to and spend time with his children. Going against the instruction of his sister-in-law, Tarble searched for the kis of his children and left the compound.

* * *

“I want to go on it again!” Bra exclaimed after they all got off the roller coaster.

“I still can’t believe they let a little girl on the ride,” Kuwabara grumbled.

“She met the height requirement,” Hiei said with a shrug. “Besides, we take her flying all the time. How is being in a miniature car on a track any different. It was actually considerably slower than the speed we use in flight.”

“Man, I keep forgetting you can fly,” Yusuke said. “You would put Jin to shame.”

“Who?” Goten and Trunks asked at the same time.

“Just an acquaintance of ours,” Kurama replied. “From a tournament a few years back.”

“Anything like the WMAT?” Goten asked.

“A lot more dangerous, more bloody, and more death than would ever be allowed at the WMAT,” Hiei responded having remembered the stories he was told. In a few years, he’d be entering the tournament as a Briefs. He couldn’t wait.

“Okay, so…hey guys, what about the Ferris wheel?” Trunks suggested. “This one is one of those fancy ones that let’s like six people in per car.”

“I’m down with that,” Yusuke said. “How are we separating?”

“Well, Goten and I can take Bra, and you guys can ride in a separate car,” Trunks replied.

“I wanna go with Hiei,” Bra whined, grasping onto Hiei’s hand. “He’s more fun that you.”

Trunks looked slightly hurt, but it was a joke making Hiei laugh. He knelt down to Bra and said, “If you go with Trunks now, I’ll win you something later, okay?”

Bra smiled and nodded, running over to her other brother. Trunks picked her up and tickled her slightly, as punishment for her comment. Hiei smiled at his laughing sister before going over to Yukina. The two of them hadn’t been able to talk since Tarble abruptly landed the day before.

“Hey,” Hiei said quietly to his sister, gently nudging her hand.

Yukina smiled at him and took ahold of his hand. “Hi,” she whispered back to him.

“You okay?” he asked her. Yukina just nodded and Hiei pulled her in for a hug.

“It’s kinda nice,” Yusuke said to the others as they watched the scene. Many quirked brows were directed at him. “What? It’s just nice to see them finally together.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Kuwabara agreed watching the two twins smiling at one another. Hiei squeezed Yukina’s shoulder reassuringly. Kuwabara knew that the ice maiden didn’t have to worry about her brother being angry with her. All Hiei wanted was her happiness.

* * *

The time to load themselves onto the Ferris wheel came, and the Yu Yu gang got on first. Hiei sat in the middle of Botan and Yukina, Yusuke sat across from Botan, Kurama from Hiei, and Kuwabara from Yukina.

As the ride began to move, Hiei noticed Botan tense. He looked at her strangely as the car started rocking. The ferry girl whimpered slightly, but the guys and Yukina did not pick up on it since they were engaged in their usual antics. It only made the car shake more.

“What is wrong with you?” Hiei asked Botan, though he sounded a little harsh.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Botan replied. “I just have a tiny fear of heights.”

If Hiei was at the end, he probably would have fallen out of the car at that moment. “But you’re a ferry girl,” he reminded her. “You fly on an oar all the time.”

“Yeah, but I can control that,” she told him. “And I certainly do not rock.” As if to response to her point, the wind blew causing the car to shake more. Botan didn’t know where to grab, or what to grab that would make her feel safe. Instead, she chose to take Hiei’s hand in hers, squeezing it every time the wind shook the car.

Hiei stared at their hands, speechless as to what had just happened. He caught Kurama eyeing him and Botan and could only guess what was going on inside the fox’s head. Sighing, he decided to reposition their hands so that they were cupped. He would squeeze her hand back any time she squeezed his. It was a silent reassurance that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

Just then, out of nowhere, Hiei heard something that sounded like a gunshot. He was never good with loud noises as it was with his sensitive hearing. Jumping slightly at the sound, his fingers accidently laced with Botan’s. The ferry girl looked at him questioningly and saw the fear and anxiety in his eyes. Hiei was looking around when another shot sounded. This time he saw muted colored lights in the daytime sky. The guys also saw it.

“What kind of idiot sets off fireworks during the day?” Yusuke asked. “Seriously, who the heck is going to see them? I mean, we have good vision, but not everyone does.”

Hiei relaxed slightly when he realized they were just fireworks. Bulma had taken him to see them a few times, and like at concerts, he had to wear earplugs to avoid damaging his hearing. They were nothing to be afraid of, just loud. When the wheel started its descent, both Hiei and Botan finally relaxed. They were ready to get off by that point.

* * *

Once everyone, including Goten, Trunks, and Bra were off, they went in search of the games. Hiei had promised his little sister he would win her something. That’s when Kuwabara pointed out the Gravitron, and everyone wanted to try it, even little Bra.

“It’ll be like training in the GR,” Trunks offered to Hiei as he questioned whether or not to join.

“Hn, I highly doubt that,” Hiei retorted, “but seeing as I’m outnumbered, I will join you.”

Hiei did not like the idea of having his feet pinned down, but as he did not wish to be thrown from the ride, he just let it happen. Eventually the ride started spinning at a fast rate, and Hiei felt himself being pressed into the wall. He heard the delighted screams of the other passengers, but he himself was clenching his teeth, hoping the ride would end soon.

He felt like the air around him was being ripped into and he couldn’t breathe. He closed his eyes, willing the ride to slow down. Once the speed started to dissipate, Hiei started to relax and opened his eyes seeing nothing but blurriness. One thing was for sure, he was never going on anything that spun again.

After they got off the ride, the others were asking him how he enjoyed the ride. He looked over to Yukina who looked a little dizzy. Hiei just grumbled, not wanting to lose face with his brother or the guys. “It was a waste of my time,” he responded.

Kurama and Trunks both frowned at him. That response was something he would say in the past when he didn’t trust any of them enough to tell them how he was feeling. They decided to keep that knowledge to themselves, though. They would have to talk to him later at some point.

They ended up at a shooting game, which Hiei proved to be good at. He won easily, beating many other humans whose aim was worse than the insults they threw his way. Hiei ignored them when they called him “short,” “weak,” and “pathetic.” They were just humans, and those words could no longer hurt them.

He, of course, won the biggest prize, giving Bra a giant horse stuffed animal that the half-Saiyan child was able to carry with ease. The group ignored the confused stares of the other bystanders. Then Kurama noticed something, or someone, that was not supposed to be at the fair.

“Hiei!” he called out, though he kept his volume in check, not wanting to draw Tarble’s attention towards them.

“What?” Hiei snapped at his friend.

“It’s time to ride the spinning teacups,” Kurama replied, grabbing his friend into a crowded line.

Before Hiei could retort, the line pushed him and Kurama into the ride. “Another spinning one?” Hiei nearly whined.

Kurama just smiled when Hiei expressed his distaste. The fox demon was right. Hiei had not enjoyed the Gravitron, and this was even worse. But Kurama could not let Hiei see Tarble, and vice versa. Hiei was already starting to pull away again, and Kurama would not let him revert completely.

“Kurama, I will get you for this,” Hiei threatened as the ride began to spin heavily.

“I’m sure, Hiei,” Kurama said calmly. “I would expect no less.”

When the ride ended, Hiei was holding onto his head, stumbling everywhere. He was past dizzy, and if he were to be attacked at that moment, he would stand no chance. He couldn’t even walk, nearly crawling to get out of the ride.

Kurama noticed his struggling and helped the fire demon to stand. “Okay, I agree,” he said. “That was a little much.”

The others noticed them, all looking at the two like they were nuts.

“What the heck was that all about?” Yusuke asked. “You could have at least asked us to join.”

“My apologies,” Kurama said looking over to Trunks. Trunks nodded to him, meaning that he too saw Tarble, and managed to keep the fact from everyone. Kurama was happy to know that Hiei had someone like Trunks to defend him always, especially when they were not there.

“Hey, let’s go find another game,” Goten suggested. He looked over the left and saw a game where you toss Ping-Pong balls into little jars. If you were to get the balls into a certain color, you could win a fish. “That one looks cool.”

Hiei looked over and smirked. He had played something similar, a gambling game, back when he was a child in Demon World. He knew he’d be able to beat it, despite the fact that the jars were always rigged. He always knew where to throw the ball to land in the cup he wanted it to.

“Step right up,” the man running the game said. “Toss three balls. If you get all three into a red cup, you win a beta fish as a prize. But if even one goes into the black cups, you get diddly squat.”

“Who’s Diddly?” Goten asked. Everyone, except for Bra and Yukina nearly fell over.

Hiei rolled his eyes and took out two dollars to pay the game’s fee. “Ah, a taker, I see,” the man said with a chuckle.

“You want to play, Hiei?” Yusuke asked in shock.

“Why not?” Hiei replied with a shrug as her was handed the three Ping-Pong balls.

He was thankful that everyone stayed quiet, silently watching him. The noise wouldn’t have bothered him, but this was easier to do when there was complete silence. When Hiei threw the first ball, the man laughed as it hit a black jar; however, Hiei just smirked as the ball bounced back up and rolled over the other jars to a red jar. He heard the man gasp in shock, and it made his smirk widened into a grin. Hiei chuckled. He knew what he was doing.

The other two balls followed suit, and the man just stared wide-eyed at Hiei. “Um…g-go ahead, kid,” he said. “Pick your prize.”

Hiei mentally chuckled to himself and moved to observe the fish. He really had no need for a fish, especially something that lived in the accursed water. Still, he owed it to the man to pick one. He could always give it to Bra later. She loved animals just as much as the rest of the family.

Then something caught the fire demon’s eye. In one of the clear bowls, there was a single beta fish, red with black stripes to it. It’s dorsal fin and caudal, or tail, fins looked slightly frayed. There was something about this little fish that spoke volumes to Hiei, more than any of the healthy fish.

He looked to the man and said, “I want this one.”

The man’s mouth dropped open. “But kid, that one is on its last leg. It probably won’t even survive the trip home. Wouldn’t you rather have a nice healthy and strong fish?”

Hiei just glared at him. “I won the game,” Hiei said darkly. “Doesn’t that mean that the choice is mine?”

The man gulped slightly, but nodded, preparing a bag for Hiei to take the sickly fish with him. It wouldn’t be his fault if the fish died before the kid was to leave the fair. Handing Hiei the bag, the fire demon took it gently and sarcastically thanked the man.

“Hiei, why did you want that fish?” Yusuke asked cautiously. He knew his friend would have had a reason. He was just curious.

“Because I did,” Hiei scoffed, not understanding why it was a big deal.

“But it’s so flimsy,” Goten expressed his disproval. “I mean, it looks like it’s going to die at any second. Looks a little pathetic, if you ask me. Why would you want something so weak?”

Hiei stopped and turned to face his brother’s friend in a flash, the venom radiating from the fire demon. His eyes were narrowed, a growl waiting on the tip of his tongue. “You have no idea what you are talking about,” Hiei spat. “Who cares if this fish is weak? I wanted it, now get over it.”

“But we’re Saiyans,” Goten said innocently. “We all pride ourselves with strength. Why would you want something that-OW!”

Goten looked to Trunks who was now also glaring at him. The younger Saiyan looked back to Hiei whose expression showed both rage and hurt. Hiei shook his head at him before taking off for home, all the while protecting his little fish.

“Do you not know when or how to shut up?” Yusuke asked. “Obviously he had a reason for choosing that fish.”

“Like I was supposed to know this?” Goten asked defensively. “What did I say, anyway, that set him off?”

Trunks placed a hand on Goten’s shoulder. “Goten, there’s something I have to tell you about Hiei.”

* * *

Hiei had gotten home, and to his joy, the fish was still alive. He had run into his mother and asked her for a small tank. Bulma smiled at the boy and told him to go to his room with the fish. She would bring him everything he needed to take care of his new beta.

Hiei did as he was told and brought his fish to his room. He realized that he had to name the little guy, to give him an identity, to give him worth in his little world. “I think I’ll call you Ryuu,” he told the little fish. It responded by swimming around a little in the bag. It made Hiei smile that the fish was already responding to him.

Bulma came into the room with a small bowl of water, coated with little red rocks at the bottom and some black plants. “I thought the fish would like this set up. More places to hide.”

Hiei smiled at her. “Thanks, mom,” he said sincerely as he gently transferred the fish to its new home.

Bulma smiled as she watched her son treating the fish like it was a piece of glass that could break at any moment. It showed that he had become more compassionate in his time there. Honestly, she felt that way about Hiei a lot. She was always gentle with the boy, because she knew his self-esteem was delicate. He too could break at any moment.

“Don’t use the filter yet,” she said as she placed a black device on his desk. “Until that fish gets stronger, you’ll have to clean it out manually pretty much every day.”

“That’s fine by me,” Hiei said, placing his head on his hands on his desk to look at Ryuu as he studied the plants of his new home.

Bulma smiled at Hiei and ruffled his hair. “Oh, I forgot to ask…did you eat anything at the fair?”

Hiei looked to his mother and frowned. Sighing, he shook his head. Bulma narrowed his eyes at him and left the room. Hiei knew she was about to bring a massive amount of food to his room.

He looked at the fish and sprinkled a large amount of high protein fish food. Ryuu looked at the food curiously, then seemed to look at Hiei for an answer.

“If I have to eat a ton of food to get stronger, then so do you,” he muttered to the fish. With that, Ryuu seemed to nibble on the food. Hiei let a faint smile grace his lips as his new friend listened to his plea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I don’t know anything about Gravitrons as I have never been on one before, so if they aren’t restrained in any way, oops XD Also, yes, there was some fish anatomy words in there, but only because the marine biologist in me couldn’t just say “fins.” XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own YYH, DBZ, or the characters.
> 
> Baseball Scene written by dragoscilvio.

Hiei stayed in his room the rest of the day. When Bulma came in to take his dishes away, she saw him still lying his head down on his hand staring at Ryuu. She had smiled and ruffled his hair a bit before Hiei took her hand. Bulma was so happy that even though he wasn’t telling her how he felt that he still sought out comfort from her. After all, every mother wanted to connect with their child, and that was what Hiei was to her.

Later, when the others returned, they opted that Yusuke go talk to him, so the ex-detective went to his room and knocked on the door.

“What?” he heard Hiei growl from the other side. Yusuke sweat-dropped knowing that Hiei knew he was the one outside. He decided to enter the room and saw Hiei in the same position Bulma had found him. Sighing, Yusuke walked into the room, shut the door, and moved to sit on the bed.

Ryuu hid behind his plant when he registered a new presence. “Hey, the tank looks awesome,” Yusuke said in amazement. “Looks like it’s on fire with all of the red.”

“Hn,” Hiei muttered. “What do you want?”

That’s when Yusuke uncharacteristically grew serious. “Look, Hiei,” he started softly, “Goten didn’t know what he was saying and he definitely didn’t mean to insult you. Do you think you can come down? It’s not healthy for you to hold yourself up in here.”

Hiei turned around so fast to glare at Yusuke. “If you’re here to give me a lecture, I don’t need nor do I want to hear it. Just get out.”

Calm Yusuke gone, he snapped back defensively. “Hiei, you need to calm down. I sort of get why you’re upset, but it needs to stop. Besides, not too long ago, you would have ridiculed someone for being weak too. Hell, you might have even killed them. What has you so upset?”

Yusuke realized he had said something wrong when he saw the crestfallen expression. The fire demon looked away in shame before stating, with a cracking voice, “Get out, detective. Just leave me alone.”

Yusuke’s eyes widened when Hiei requested to be left alone. Part of him felt like his friend had been reverting back to his old self, and what he said definitely hadn’t helped much. “Okay,” Yusuke regrettably replied. “I’ll go.”

“Good,” was all Hiei said before turning back to stare at his fish.

As Yusuke descended the stairs, everyone was anxiously awaiting news. “Well?” Trunks asked, the worry in his voice audibly evident.

“Yeah, kind of just made it worse, guys,” Yusuke replied.

Kurama sighed. Obviously Yusuke had said something to upset Hiei, so talking with him right now would be impossible. _Unless…_

“Kurama, what are you thinking?” Kuwabara asked seeing the fox demon seemed to have a plan.

“It’s time to send in the big guns,” he said before turning to Yukina. “Only you will be able to get through to him now.”

Yukina nodded and started walking up the stairs. She and Hiei still hadn’t talked much since Tarble’s arrival, just a few interactions at the carnival. Quietly she entered his room smiling at her brother when she saw him watching his fish.

Hiei turned his head away from the tank for a moment to glance at Yukina. He looked completely exhausted, but he stood up from his chair when Yukina sat down and patted his bed. Joining her, he sighed and let her talk first.

“Are you okay, brother?” she asked him, hoping he’d be truthful with her.

“I want to lie and say ‘yes,’ but I’m sure you wouldn’t believe that,” he returned. “What about you? How are you handling this…situation?”

Yukina shrugged slightly, frowning a bit. “Part of me wants to know him, but I feel like I would be betraying you, and I don’t know what to expect.”

Hiei sighed and took Yukina’s hand in his. “You wouldn’t be betraying me. I wouldn’t like it, but I would not keep you from getting to know him. I just have no desire to know him, especially when he thinks we should just be happy to be reunited.”

Yukina squeezed Hiei’s hand as his energy started fluctuating with his anger and pulled him into a hug. “It’ll be okay, big brother,” Yukina said comfortingly. “It will take time for all of us, but even if we get to know him, it doesn’t mean we have to go with him.”

“True,” Hiei mumbled out before sighing again. “I’ll be down in a minute, if the others ask.”

“Okay,” Yukina said happily with a smile. She kissed Hiei’s cheek and went to go tell the others, leaving Hiei with a small smile on his face as he looked back over to his tank. He grinned maliciously as he got up to feed the fish some more food. Ryuu looked at him curiously before nibbling at the flakes.

* * *

Hiei left his room and headed down the stairs to see everyone gathered together with Vegeta. “What’s going on?” Hiei asked.

Vegeta smirked at his nephew. He had been hoping he’d come down soon. “We’re meeting Kakarot and his friends for an outdoor activity.”

“Yes, guy time!” Trunks exclaimed. “No offense to the girls, but we need that.” He flashed his cousin and apologetic look, but Yukina just giggled and looked over to Botan.

“Oh, we’ll manage without you,” Botan assured them.

Hiei was somewhat excited about another outdoor activity, but then something hit him. “Oh no,” he muttered under his breath.

Vegeta chuckled at Hiei’s sudden realization. “That’s right, son. It’s Trunks’ turn to pick the activity.”

“Oh joy,” Hiei scoffed rolling his eyes. He knew it was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

“So what are we doing again?”

Trunks turned to Yusuke, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Leaning in close he whispered,“ We are going to go play baseball.” 

“Sounds great,” Yusuke replied in a low voice. “But why are we whispering?”

“Because Hiei hates baseball!” Trunks laughed through his whisper.

“That….that’s…. that’s outrageous!” Yusuke hissed dramatically. “How can someone hate baseball?”

“Because it is the one thing that deals with physical ability that Hiei has no aptitude for whatsoever.”

Yusuke quirked an eyebrow at the young man who was quickly joining the ranks of his closest friends. “So why are we making him play?”

“Because Hiei trying to play baseball is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life!” Trunks guffawed but quickly quieted and darted a glance around to make sure a certain person hadn’t heard.

Yusuke threw his head back and let a long peal of laughter reach the ceiling. “That is something only a brother would say!”

Trunks found himself grinning proudly as he leaned back against the couch they were sitting on, and gave himself a toast with a can of soda. Taking a long draft of the carbonated drink, the boy almost began to choke as he fought back the laughter trying to find its way out of his body. Finally, the two stood as one, both intent on setting up a game of baseball.

* * *

“This is going to be a nightmare,” Hiei muttered after they made it to the baseball field.

Kurama shot him a confused look. “What do you mean, Hiei?”

“I hate this game,” Hiei said abruptly before he stopped talking again.

“Hey batta’ batta’ batta’!” Krillin yelled through the chain of the batting cages as Trunks attempted to hit the balls speeding towards him.

“Swing batter, swing!” Goku joined in, deep chuckles rumbling from his chest as Trunks missed the ball.

“Come on you guys!” the purple haired teen growled in playful anger. “How can a person hit a ball when they have a bunch of gibbering baboons behind him?”

“Consider it valuable training,” Vegeta smirked. “Unless you are so pathetic about simply hitting a ball that I need to take the speed down for you. Should I get a T-ball set for you?”

Trunks glared at his father, but the effect was ruined but the sparkle of amusement shining in his eyes.

“Hey!” Goku shouted belatedly as he jolted from his deep thought with an air of indignant surprise. “Are you calling me a monkey?”

“YES!” came the unanimous shout, which then caused the entire group to melt into another round of laughter.

Yusuke found himself laughing alongside Kurama and Hiei, Kuwabara standing off to the side paying for a drink from a vending machine.

“I have to admit,” Kurama sighed as he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, soaking in the rays of the sun. “It is nice to hang out with just a bunch of guys and not worry about our words upsetting the girls.”

“You’re telling me!” Yusuke nodded emphatically. “I’m just happy to be away from them for an afternoon. Back home if Keiko dragged me on one more shopping trip before we left, I think I would have had to check myself into the loony bin.”

“You just need to show her who the man is in your relationship.” Vegeta gave a superior sniff with his nose in the air.

“Says the guy who does whatever his wife tells him to,” Piccolo said softly with a smirk.

“I didn’t ask your opinion!” Vegeta practically screamed, but his anger was hard to believe since all the men were in too good a mood to actually find it in themselves to produce genuine fury.

“Alright!” Yusuke clapped his hands jovially. “Who’s next?”

A low hubbub of talk quickly ensued as the group of men began to discuss rotation, and Hiei saw that as his golden opportunity to slip away, but his plan was in vain.

“I think Hiei should go next!” Trunks practically sang.

Hiei’s eyes widened as he paused in mid-sneak, and his face fell as he heard the chorus of agreement from everyone else. Knowing that with Goku being here, his father would never let him live down turning down a challenge, especially since Goten was playing. And so, with a sigh of resignation, Hiei fetched the helmet and bat, then slunk into the batter’s cage.

“Alright Hiei, you can do this!” Krillin shouted in encouragement.

“Yeah, just keep your eye on the ball!” Goku added.

For the next few balls, Hiei swung and missed. He couldn’t explain it, if anything the little boogers felt like they swerved around his bat on purpose! And it certainly didn’t help that he had his own cheering section shouting any and all advice they could think of through the fence.

“Hiei, you gotta put your hips into it as you swing!” Trunks yelled, giving a demonstration by wiggling his hips, which also caused Yusuke to drop to the ground in peals of laughter.

The poor fire demon tried to “put his hips into it,” but he looked like a belly dancer on crack, which of course only caused him to miss again.

“Yeah, put your hips into it,” Goten agreed, “but don’t forget to keep your shoulders straight as you swing!”

“And try to keep your chin up,” Kurama suggested.

“Oh!” Kuwabara shouted. “And choke up on the bat. That makes it easier to swing if you’re short!”

Yusuke reached around Kurama to slap Kuwabara upside the head for making the crack about Hiei’s height, but the scolding lost effectiveness when the former detective found himself laughing at what his best friend had said.

To say that Hiei was frustrated would be an understatement as he tried to put all of the advice that he had gained into play. Swing your hips, straighten your shoulders, chin up, choke up on the bat; but the poor fire demon only succeeded in losing his balance and falling flat on his face.

A collective “ooo-h” came from the peanut gallery as Hiei picked himself up from the dirt. Red eyes blazing in fury at the one game he could not master, the jaganshi found himself practically screaming.

“WILL SOMEBODY GIVE ME ADVICE I CAN ACTUALLY USE?”

All was silent, until Yusuke paused in his laughter long enough to shout.

“Pretend you're cutting someone's head off, and the ball represents that skinny part of the neck that connects the shoulders to the head.”

“That will work,” Hiei murmured with a sadistic grin.

Suddenly the trajectory and speed of the ball didn’t faze him. Hiei could see the neck of his enemy charging him, and all he had to do was hit it right in the sweet spot where the head will fly off into the field. With a mighty swing, the group cheered at the crack that echoed off into the grounds, and Hiei found himself pumping the air in victory at the home run he had somehow managed to attain.

“YES!”

Sauntering out of the batting cages, Hiei grinned at the group in the elation of his victory. Yusuke pounced on him, one arm wrapped around his neck as he lifted one arm high into the air.

“See, we knew you could do it!” Krillin said proudly.

“Yeah, but whose head did you cut off?” Goten asked “I mean, figuratively speaking.”

Hiei paused. In truth he had envisioned Tarble, and had taken all his rage and sorrow over this whole situation out on that baseball. But he couldn’t say that, not here, not now, not when everyone was having fun and relaxed. To say _his_ name would ruin that atmosphere. So giving a shrug, and flashing his most evil grin, the fire apparition drawled out a half truth.

“Well, I’m not going to name any names, but I assure you that he is the one whose intellect can be brought into question on whether or not it actually exists.”

“Hey!” Kuwabara yelled in offended hurt. “Why do you always gotta pick on me?”

“But I didn’t name any names,” Hiei said innocently. “So how do you know that it was your head that went to the chopping block?”

“Because I know you Shorty!” Kuwabara growled. “And you have been picking on me, and insulting my intellect since the day we met. So who else could it have been?”

Hiei smiled at the way his plan had worked so perfectly and purred his reply. “Maybe it was you, maybe it wasn’t, but you will never know whether it was or not, will you?”

Kuwabara let out another enraged scream much to the amusement of the group, and Hiei found himself sinking onto the grass and stretching out his stressed muscles. Yes, it was nice to hang out with just the guys. Maybe while they were all having fun he could manage to get some sleep. It would be a first since this whole mess got started.

* * *

Later, everyone was back at Capsule Corp. eating dinner. For the most part, the atmosphere was pretty light. Hiei would occasionally flash glares to Gure. Tarble and Vegeta were nowhere to be found, though the humming and Vegeta’s energy was coming from the GR. The one thing Hiei learned when he first moved in was that Vegeta never missed family dinner unless something was bothering him. Hiei understood, as did Bulma, so she didn’t yell at him for not being present.

As for where Tarble was, Hiei didn’t care. He was too busy trying to force himself to eat. His hurt and anger at the whole situation were not only keeping him up at night, but making it increasingly difficult to eat. He was actually thankful that Bulma let him eat in his room. If she were to go look, she would find half of the food she had left him in the trash.

“So how was your day at the carnival,” Bulma directed primarily to her kids, but to everyone else at the table.

Hiei shrugged. “Other than getting a fish, nothing much happened.”

“What are you talking about?” Trunks asked with a laugh. “It was awesome. We went on a ton of rides. It was a rush.”

“Hn, the rush from fighting is much greater,” Hiei said crossing his arms like Vegeta usually did.

Trunks grinned at him. “You look so much like dad right now,” he pointed out.

Hiei just looked over to him blankly before leaning against the table and picking more of his food.

“It was really fun, mama,” Bra chimed. “Hiei and Botan even took me to get cotton candy.”

“That’s wonderful, sweetie,” Bulma said rubbing her daughter’s arm. “Is everyone ready for dessert?”

There was a group “yes” as Hiei pushed his plate away from him and stood up from the table. “Pass,” he replied as he started to make a move towards his room.

“Um, Hiei,” Bulma called accusatorily to her son, “there’s still a ton of food on your plate.”

“I’m fine, mother,” he lied. “I ate a lot for lunch.”

“Well, that is true,” Bulma agreed. “Okay, but you’re getting an extra helping in the morning.”

Hiei sighed. “Fine.”

* * *

He went upstairs and figuratively locked himself in his room, lying down on his bed and looking up at the ceiling. For the amount of time he spent looking up there, it still hadn’t changed. Part of him wondered why he continued to stare up at the white canvas, but the other part of him knew that he had no energy or desire to do much else, especially at night. Eventually he got bored looking up at the ceiling and went to check on Ryuu who was resting against the rocks. Hiei turned the little night lamp on so that Ryuu wouldn’t be in total darkness, but left in the emanating blue glow of the light. With that, Hiei left the safety of his room and headed towards the backyard. By this point, everyone would be in bed and he would be alone.

He was indeed alone when he made it outside and leaned his back against the house, crossing his arms and looking at the stars. It was quiet and peaceful, and Hiei strained to try to focus on that. His thoughts were a miasma of confusion. Even after talking to Yukina earlier, he still didn’t know what he wanted to do. If he got to know Tarble, the Saiyan would think that Hiei was forgiving him and then want to leave Earth right away. If he kept quiet, then Tarble would keep trying to talk to him. Hiei lightly banged the back of his head once against the house. He was so angry and hurt, and eventually everyone would notice something was wrong with him if they hadn’t already. He knew Vegeta would definitely, but right now Vegeta was dealing with his own anger which Hiei was thankful for. At least it would be a while before his father questioned his behavior.

Hiei’s stomach growled a little bit, making him mutter a curse under his breath. He still didn’t want to eat anything, though he barely had all day. He decided that he would grab the chocolate licorice and head back upstairs. He wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.

“You should be in bed,” he heard a familiar voice say.

Hiei scoffed slightly and said, “You should get rid of that annoying habit of sneaking up on others, Kurama.”

Kurama smiled lightly. “Like you, I utilize a few things from my thieving days in everyday life. You’ve been shying away from everyone lately, Hiei.”

“Hn, whatever,” the demi-Saiyan muttered.

Kurama frowned at how Hiei was brushing this all aside. “Hiei, keeping things bottled in is not healthy. Do you not remember what it was like for you before Vegeta showed up at Genkai’s? You should remember from then that we can be trusted. I can tell you are upset.”

“And you should get rid of that habit too,” Hiei grumbled. “It’s annoying when you can read all these cues. I don’t want to talk about anything. I don’t want to feel anything. I just want to be left alone.”

“No you don’t,” Kurama replied. Hiei looked over to him, frustration clouding his features. “If you wanted to be left alone, you wouldn’t have come with us earlier. You would have made an excuse. You want to be away from Tarble, and I understand that. But we don’t know the full story of why he left your mother, and we probably never will. At least, not until you ask him. Until then, ignore him. No one would blame you for that. If he gives you any trouble, we will take care of it. Just let us help you.”

Hiei sighed and looked back up to the sky. “Now I understand why Vegeta used to want to escape the planet. At times I contemplate running away to the mountains until he leaves. I can’t stand seeing Gure. I know she did nothing, but Tarble left my mother for that…thing. What the heck is she? And she’s so happy all the time. No wonder the idiot is clueless about WHY I DON’T want to go with him. And then he gets mad when I call Vegeta dad. Vegeta is the first person, first family member, who was truly there for me that I allowed to be there for me. I just want Tarble to leave so that it can go back to the way it was before he got here, but as long as Yukina and I are here, he won’t LEAVE!”

As Hiei yelled out that last word, he shot out a large ki blast that went for miles in the sky. Kurama watched the energy travel, still slightly shocked at how strong his friend had become since they last saw each other. He nodded to the fire demon and said, “In all honesty, I wish he would give you your space. I’m sure Bulma would help them get a hotel, but he chooses to stay here and that is not good for you or Yukina. It should have been more controlled than this, but according to Vegeta, Tarble gave no warning. Not that Vegeta is blameless. He admitted to me the other day that he hasn’t contacted Tarble since he found out about you, and the younger Saiyan was too curious to stay away. One thing is certain…Tarble lacks maturity.”

Hiei let out a bitter scoff. “You’re telling me. How he’s ‘married’ to Gure, I have no clue.” Kurama chuckled slightly and Hiei smirked a bit. The two remained in silence before Hiei broke it. “Kurama,” he said causing the fox demon to look at him. “Thanks.”

Kurama smiled in response. “Of course. We should go inside now.”

“Right.”

“Oh, and Hiei?”

“Yeah?” he asked looking back to Kurama as he paused from walking inside.

“Try to actually sleep. You look exhausted.”

Hiei considered it for a moment and then nodded. “I will try. Goodnight.”

Kurama watched as Hiei walked inside. Their conversation was exactly what the demon/Saiyan hybrid needed. He by no means told Kurama everything he was feeling, especially because what he was feeling was too difficult to put into words. At least Kurama got him to open up since he had started shutting down. He only hoped that Hiei would take his advice and sleep. Hiei was going to need all the strength he could get to get through the next few weeks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, YYH, or the characters, or some of the quote that I randomly found on the internet (not by a particular person XD)

Vegeta slid into bed late at night after training vigorously in a GR since everyone had gone to bed. He had sensed Hiei outside with Kurama before returning to his room, but the boy’s ki didn’t diminish until hours later. It was normal for teenagers to stay up late, so Vegeta thought nothing of it, especially when his ki became peaceful with sleep. A good night’s sleep was just what they all needed, but even Vegeta was too stubborn to admit that. He just wanted to pummel his brother into the ground like a true Saiyan and make sure he left his son alone.

He felt the arms of his wife gently graze his skin before feeling her body pressed up against him and muttered a few incoherent words to her. “I was wondering if you were ever coming to bed,” she said tiredly in his ear. “I missed you.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta muttered. “I needed to train. It was either that or randomly destroying the house.”

“I figured,” Bulma replied, her voice full of understanding. “I know that things have been hard for you in this. Things have been really hard on Hiei too.”

“I know,” Vegeta growled, still angry with his brother.

“I think you should talk to him tomorrow,” Bulma told him in the form of an order.

“Talking is not my strong point,” Vegeta reminded her, “but I will do my best. The kid doesn’t deserve this after everything he’s been through. Tarble’s lucky I don’t kill him for throwing Hiei into more turmoil.”

“Vegeta, relax,” Bulma said rubbing his arms. “Remember, don’t go to bed mad.”

“Hn,” Vegeta scoffed, but then smirked. “No, just stay awake all night and plot revenge.”

Bulma rolled her eyes before nuzzling against her husband’s back. “Whatever gets you to sleep, Veggie.”

Vegeta snorted before he turned over and pulled Bulma to him, holding her delicately as he fell asleep.

* * *

Hiei woke up only a few hours after he fell asleep. Every time he fell asleep, it would be restless and filled with many thoughts that would prevent him from attaining peace. The Saiyan hybrid rolled himself out of bed before checking on his fish. He was happy to see the Ryuu looked a little healthier compared to the day before and was resting against the pebbles at the bottom of the tank. The night light would continue to shine for a few more hours before it switched over to day, so he would have to wait to see his movements. Until people started waking up, Hiei would have to find a way to entertain himself in his room.

He looked around and settled for putting some music on really low seeing as the majority of everyone in the compound could hear the quietest of sounds. The music obviously wasn’t quiet enough since Hiei heard a knock on his door. He silently cursed under his breath and moved to answer the door.

Vegeta was standing outside with his arms crossed in shorts and a tank top, ready for training. “Come on,” he said to Hiei as he started walking towards the stairs. He looked back to Hiei who was just staring at him blankly. “Boy, don’t tell me you’re even thinking about skipping out on morning training.”

Hiei smiled slightly at Vegeta’s jab towards his age. “Not a chance, old man,” he replied with his own banter making Vegeta chuckle.

“Let’s go, son,” Vegeta said softly. “We have a lot of ground to cover today.”

“Lead the way.”

* * *

“So what are we working on today?” Hiei asked in interest. Surprisingly Vegeta hadn’t turned on the gravity, so Hiei wondered what his adoptive father had in store.

“We’re going to work more on strengthening your tail today,” Vegeta answered while taking out a set of heavy weights. “You need to work on building its strength or else it will be an exploitable weakness in a fight.”

“Da-ad,” Hiei whined in exasperation, “you give me this speech every week. I know I have to work on it.”

Vegeta turned away for a moment, but smiled at the fact that Hiei still continued to see him as his father. It spoke volumes to the Saiyan warrior that Hiei could act this laid back with him even when Tarble was still hanging around. He watched as Hiei picked up a weight with his tail and started his repetitions, his face revealing the strain the weight was having on him even though he was silent on the matter.

Vegeta watched him, eyes not leaving his form, before Hiei looked over to him and became confused. “Why are you staring at me?” he asked.

Vegeta simply shrugged. “Thinking,” he replied. “You know, you never told me why you got that eye implanted. What was the purpose of weakening yourself for it?”

Hiei sighed and shook his head, but continued uncomfortably with the reps. “I thought I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Yes, and I said that I would get the answer from you at some point. It’s been a while, now talk,” Vegeta ordered, his voice unwavering.

“Fine,” Hiei grumbled. “I did it because I wanted to find the glacial village.”

Vegeta was taken aback by Hiei’s confession. The fire demon seemed to hate everything regarding his birthplace. Nothing the Saiyan prince could think up as a reason seemed plausible. “Why would you want to go there? I thought you hated that place,” Vegeta questioned.

Hiei frowned and looked away from Vegeta in shame, and Vegeta could tell that Hiei’s reason for going was not pure in any way. Having been a purger himself, he knew that Hiei had evil intent in going. “What stopped you?” he asked softly and Hiei instantly knew what he meant.

“They were already dead,” Hiei responded monotonously. “They were terrified from my mere presence. It wouldn’t have been worth it. And…that’s also when I found out about Yukina,” Hiei admitted. “I started watching her from afar with the Jagan before I committed some other crimes, before she got kidnapped. I should have been more focused on her than causing trouble in Spirit World.”

“I say that everything happened as it should have,” Vegeta stated confidently. He nearly chuckled when Hiei flashed him a look of disbelief. “Hiei, if we live with regrets we’ll remain in the past forever. If I’ve learned anything from the woman, I’ve learned that you have to let it go and move forward. Believe me; my past was not pleasant, and I know I’ve committed worst crimes than you ever could. The fact that you walked away from that village…I wouldn’t have had that much control. You should be proud of your resolve.”

Hiei was stunned at Vegeta’s uncharacteristic show of emotion. “Th-thanks, dad…” he breathed out shyly. No matter what, Hiei still wouldn’t be able to accept a compliment.

Vegeta stood up from his spot and walked over to Hiei, tugging him into a strong, yet comforting embrace like he had back when he had met the boy and realized he was another lost soul like him. Hiei tensed for a moment in shock, but he relaxed and just laid there against Vegeta’s chest. The two of them said nothing more, but Vegeta still needed to talk to Hiei about Tarble. Before he could, there was a knock on the door of the GR, and Vegeta growled when he sensed who it was.

Hiei also sensed Tarble standing out there and he really didn’t want to deal with him. He had been avoiding him, but now he was being trapped in the GR because if he went outside, he would have to have the conversation he didn’t want to have with the man he didn’t want to know. He felt Vegeta squeeze his shoulders reassuringly before the elder man went to go answer the door.

“What?” he growled out snappishly, making Tarble jump back and the force of his brother’s voice.

“Um, well…I was hoping I could talk to Hiei,” Tarble replied. “He and I haven’t really spoken much since I arrived.”

“Ever think it was because I was avoiding you?” Tarble heard Hiei ask from inside the GR. “And I don’t like being spoken to as if I am not here.”

“Fair enough,” Vegeta said in response. He then decided to let Tarble into the GR, but the younger prince was annoyed that Vegeta decided to stay instead of leaving him to talk to his son in private.

“I knew you were avoiding me,” Tarble admitted to Hiei, not looking at his brother as he spoke intently to his son.

“And yet you still tried to seek me out,” Hiei muttered. “I swear, common sense is so rare these days, it should be considered a super power.” He then turned to glare at Tarble, who again was shocked by the force of the glare. He knew Hiei had been through a lot from the bits and pieces he was gathering from everyone, but he still did not know the extent of what had happened and that was what he wanted to talk about. “I don’t care what you want to talk about,” Hiei grumbled having read Tarble’s mind. “I want you to leave me alone, and if you can’t give me my space, there’s no way I’m ever going to talk to you.” He looked over to Vegeta who was trying to hide his fury towards Tarble, and failing. “I’m going out,” he told him. “I’ll get breakfast while I’m out so tell mom not to worry.” And with that, Hiei took off from the GR through the opened door.

Vegeta looked over to Tarble whose mouth was gaping open. The young prince couldn’t believe that his son was being so unreasonable. It almost did remind him of Vegeta. That’s when he turned to glare at his older brother and berate him. “What did you do to my son?”

Vegeta’s expression hardened as he walked up to Tarble and pushed him up against the wall. “Let’s get something straight here,” he said darkly. “He is _my_ son. I’m the one who found him and trained him, and I am the one he put his faith and trust into. You are nothing to him, and the fact that you keep trying to throw yourself at him is only making this harder.”

“For him or for you,” Tarble scoffed bitterly.

Vegeta punched the wall near Tarble’s face, and the Saiyan cringed and clenched his eyes shut. “The only reason it’s hard for me is because I have to watch that boy suffer,” Vegeta said forcefully. “You don’t know what he’s been through. I do, and no, I will not tell you since he has trusted me and his friends with his secrets. We will never betray him or abandon him like you have.”

“I didn’t abandon them!” Tarble shouted, finally getting angry enough to put his life on the line with his brother. “If any of you would listen to me like Goku did, you would understand that I wasn’t left with a choice. I didn’t know Hina was pregnant.”

“Still,” Vegeta growled out, “you cannot expect things to be fine between you and the kids. You are acting selfishly and not thinking about what they need. If Hiei hasn’t made it clear enough, give him his space, or believe me…knowing your children or getting them to forgive you will be the least of your worries.”

“Brother,” Tarble breathed out in shock, “are you…are you threatening me?”

“Yes.”

There was nothing left that needed to be said between the two brothers and Vegeta left Tarble alone in the GR. The younger prince sank down to the ground, not understanding why he was being the victim of so much hate. Why couldn’t they understand that he hadn’t known at that he just wanted to make it up to Hiei and Yukina and be a family? And now his older brother was treating him like the enemy? How was he going to get everyone to understand?

* * *

Hiei came back to the compound much later and snuck into his room. Ryuu was finally awake, so Hiei gave him some food. The fish happily accepted the meal and was moving more swiftly to get it. Hiei’s stomach grumbled slightly since he still hadn’t eaten, but he had just felt so nauseous after his confrontation with Tarble earlier. It made him not want to eat, whatever this feeling was. It’s why he never wanted to sleep either. Hiei remembered one time that Kurama told him the clinical signs of depression, but there was no way that he, a once heartless killer and thief, was feeling something as pathetic as depression. If his kills hadn’t caused depression, then this whole mess shouldn’t either. Hiei scoffed at his own ideas before lying down on his bed, stomach first. He rested his head on his arms and just stared out the window.

A few minutes later, Bulma came into the room, probably having been alerted to his return by Vegeta. He didn’t turn to look at her so she moved to sit down on his bed, scooting his legs over slightly. He grumbled something she couldn’t hear, but it made her chuckle nonetheless. Hiei still wasn’t acknowledging her presence, so she decided to go a different route and picked up his tail, laying it in her lap and stroking it comfortingly.

The familiar feeling of his legs becoming jelly and his body feeling like it was on a cloud returned to him. It had been a while since he let anyone stroke his tail like this, as he was always embarrassed by the purring sound that rumbled in his chest. For some reason, he didn’t mind so much today as Bulma continued to make him feel relaxed.

Bulma smiled at Hiei looking so peaceful with a smile on his face, so much different than how he had been since Tarble arrived. “Your father, Vegeta, told me what happen,” she said, clarifying that she was calling Vegeta his father and not Tarble. “My only concern is that you are okay and you ate. I don’t want you hurting yourself because you feel emotional hurt.”

“I’m fine, mother,” Hiei grumbled between purrs. Was there always an ulterior motive when someone was doing this to his tail? “And yes, I told father I was going to eat. I just needed to get away from _him_.”

“I understand, son,” Bulma said softly. “If it helps, I did tell Tarble to stay away from you and to let you come to him. I know you need time to adjust.”

“I reiterate what I told him,” Hiei muttered. “Common sense should be a super power, and he definitely lacks it.”

Bulma chuckled at Hiei’s joke. It was nice to know that he still had his edge, even though he was hurting inside. “Look, Hiei,” she continued, “I know you are not one to talk, but I’m always here to listen, and Vegeta is as well. We love you and just want what’s best for you. We won’t force you to talk, but if something is wrong, please just tell us. It pains me so much to see you hurting, you have no idea.”

Hiei stopped purring and yanked his tail away from her, much to Bulma’s surprise. He turned to face her, sitting on his hands and knees and looking at her like he hadn’t known he was causing her pain. “Mother…” he said, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry…I didn’t…why does it matter what I’m feeling like?”

Bulma’s eyes started forming tears. She hadn’t realized that Hiei was regressing so far, back to the point where he felt like no one should care about him. She grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug and refused to let him go as she rocked him. “Because you’re my boy,” she whispered in his ear. “Mine, my son. I love you, and seeing a child suffer only makes a mother suffer as well.”

“Do you…do you think she suffered because of me, too?” Hiei asked, his voice raw with emotion.

Bulma pulled him away from her for a moment to look in his eyes. “No, Hiei, never because of you. You did nothing wrong, and you’re not doing anything wrong now. She suffered, and you’ve suffered, from the choices that other people have made, some very, _very_ stupid people. But I am telling you, it’s all going to be okay, son. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t want to happen.”

Hiei nodded and leaned against Bulma again. This was the second time he allowed someone to comfort him today, and he wasn’t sure that it would help in the long run, but right now Hiei felt better as he let someone share in his burden. Later, he told himself, he would make it up to her and start taking care of himself. He just had to make it to lunch or dinner, and he’d be okay.

* * *

Hiei had missed lunch since he had been sleeping for once, so he knew he’d been waiting until dinner to eat. He shrugged it off, not caring, but then he heard something that caught his attention. Hearing angry voices outside piqued his curiosity, so he decided to go see what was going on in the backyard. His shock didn’t betray him as he saw Vegeta and Tarble ready to face off, and the others, save Bulma and Bra, watching from the sidelines.

“Is this really a good idea?” Yukina asked. “Shouldn’t we stop them?”

“Yukina, I don’t think we can,” Yusuke answered her. “Their minds are made up. I’m just glad Hiei is sleeping through this.”

That definitely caught Hiei’s attention. What was going on out here, and why were his friends concerned with whether he knew or not.

“Hiei is coming with me, Vegeta,” Tarble uncharacteristically growled. “I don’t care if I have to fight for him. He’s my son.”

“No, legally, he is mine,” Vegeta retorted. “And he does not wish to go with you, so I will fight to keep him here. Tarble, you are foolish. You are challenging me to a fight that you cannot win.”

“I don’t care!” Tarble screamed, powering up with purple energy surrounding him.

Vegeta scoffed at him and also powered up, though his energy was a mixture of blue and purple. “You are no match for me, brother. Let’s get this over with.”

Not an experienced fighter, and acting on anger, Tarble charged Vegeta not caring that he was in a defensive stance. Vegeta knocked Tarble down to the ground with one hit before plunging down on him and elbowing him in the stomach. The younger prince cried out and coughed up a bit of blood from the impact so early on in the fight. Vegeta stopped hitting Tarble and stood up while waiting for him to catch his breath.

“This is pathetic,” Vegeta stated. “You know you can’t win, and that isn’t even me using any ki. I would kill you if I did. Just stop this nonsense and leave. Just give the kid his space. What is so hard to understand about that?”

“The part where I leave my son again,” Tarble said while breathing heavily, still lying flat on the ground. Once he caught his breath, he was back on his feet. “I’m not done yet.”

Vegeta was slightly impressed that Tarble’s stance changed to a more decent one. Maybe there was some fight in his younger brother, but Vegeta didn’t care. He just wanted to make sure Hiei would stay on Earth with them and his friends. If fighting Tarble was the only way to make it happen, he didn’t care. He was much stronger than his brother anyway.

Hiei was watching at the sidelines now too, away from his friends and siblings. This was all too much for him. They were fighting over his future, not giving him a choice in the matter. What was worse was that Vegeta was speaking for him. Yes, Hiei did not want to leave, but it was his choice to make, not Vegeta’s.

“Stop,” he whispered under his breath, his fists clenched and shaking with rage and his energy fluctuating causing the eldest Saiyan to stop in his movements. “STOP!”

Everyone’s attention was now turned to Hiei who was glowing with uncontained energy as he walked over to the battlefield. “Stop this now,” he said more darkly. “I’m not some prize to be won.” He glared at Tarble when he said this. “If I don’t want to go with you, you can’t make me. Fighting over keeping me is a lost cause because I will not be leaving with a man I cannot stand the sight of.”

Vegeta smirked at Hiei’s statement, but the demon looked at him with eyes filled with hurt and hatred. “And you,” he growled pointing a finger at Vegeta. “How dare you think you can speak for me and make decisions for me? I don’t care if you did adopt me. I thought you at least cared enough to respect me and let me make my own decisions.”

“Hiei,” Vegeta called out in shock.

“No!” Hiei snapped, yellow energy starting to form around him as his hair fluctuated between black and gold. “I’m not done yet!” Vegeta shut his mouth to let Hiei speak, knowing that he had somehow crossed a line with him and not wanting to anger him further. “I trusted you,” Hiei muttered darkly. “I told you everything, but I never once said I didn’t want to go…I said I wanted my space. If I had decided to leave, then you are trying to prevent me from having the option. That is NOT okay with me. Neither of you are letting me make my own decisions. I expected that from him, but not from you.”

Vegeta was shocked, but he didn’t show it, as dark gems appeared on the ground. He looked to Hiei’s shaking form and was stunned into silence when he let his energy take over and went Super Saiyan in his rage.

“You were the one person I trusted the most!” Hiei exclaimed. “And yet you betrayed me.”

“I didn’t-“

“No!” Hiei shouted again. “You do not get to talk right now! You told me you would never do anything to hurt me, that everything was my decision, and that you respected me as your son and a fighter, and in doing this, you took it all back! You were taking away my decision, you were not going to allow me to fight my own battle, and in doing so you disgrace me, the son you promised you’d never hurt!” Hiei looked up at Vegeta, hurt, rage, and tears shining in his eyes. “You’ve betrayed me and I hate you for that-more than I could hate Tarble right now because I expected him to hurt me! But you…you…”

Hiei was going to let Vegeta have some more, but he felt a tightening in his chest and stomach and knelt down to the ground. “Hiei!” Vegeta called out, kneeling down neck to him, but Hiei pushed him a way.

“Don’t touch me!” he yelled like when Hiei and Vegeta had been strangers. Vegeta was hurt by the treatment, but realized he deserved it. He could only watch helplessly as Hiei started gasping for air.

Hiei was trying to force the feeling away, but out of nowhere, the nausea hit him again and he emptied the non-existent contents of his stomach, nothing but bile and blood hitting the ground, and there was a lot of blood. Hiei grasped his head, dizziness and a splitting migraine taking over as he fell over to his side. His friends ran over to him when he started screaming in agony, but he yelled at them all to stay away from him. Right now, he wanted no one. He wanted to be left alone and he did not need people touching him or jostling him as he felt another wave of nausea hit.

When he threw up the second time, forcing himself to his side, Trunks started running into the house. “I’m going to get mom,” he told them before disappearing into the house.

“What are we going to do?” Botan asked in alarm. “He won’t let us near him.”

Hiei heard the worry in her voice and smiled slightly as he continued to gasp for air, but it was short-lived as he wretched again before losing consciousness. The one thing that alerted the others to the fact that he was still in this agony was his unconscious body powering down from Super Saiyan, the weak gasps of air, and the blood that was now gushing from his nose.

Now that he could safely touch Hiei without causing the boy to lash out more with his uncontrolled energy, Vegeta grabbed him and flew as quickly as he could into the compound, ignoring whatever comments his friends, sister, or Tarble were saying to him.

* * *

Trunks had gotten to Bulma first and she had already had a bed prepared for Hiei when Vegeta brought him inside. He quickly placed Hiei in the bed, covering his shivering form. Bulma worked on cleaning the blood from his nose that finally stopped gushing, as well as the blood and bile from his neck. She drew some blood which she gave to Trunks to rush to the doctors in the compound. She took a hand and stroked Hiei’s pale face as he continued with his shallow breathing.

Vegeta watched helplessly from the other side of the room before Bulma stood up and walked towards him. She looked absolutely livid, and Vegeta could tell that Trunks told her everything about what had happened. He watched her as she marched up to him and slapped him as hard as she could across the face.

“I don’t care what you have to do, Vegeta,” Bulma said in a dangerous tone, “but you are going to fix this. You will fix whatever the heck you did out there, or you will find yourself in need of a new place to live. How could you do anything to upset him? You knew he was suffering and now you just added to it.”

“I thought it was what he would want,” Vegeta explained to her, “but I forgot he has as much pride as I do. I wasn’t thinking.”

“That’s right, you weren’t thinking!” Bulma shouted at him in exasperation.

Just then, the others picked that moment to enter the room, Tarble leading the pack. “And you,” Bulma continued, her voice becoming laced with anger and rage. “I warned you. I told you to leave Hiei be and to let him come to you when he was ready, but you ignored that. You ignored my warnings, and ignored the fact that I know more about my son than you do. Unlike Vegeta,” she said snapping her glare towards him, “I won’t even attempt to make a decision for him, but know this…if my son says that he doesn’t want to leave with you, than you will get your royal butt off this planet and leave him alone. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-y-yeah,” Tarble replied looking over to Hiei lying so weakly on the hospital bed. “I-is he going to be okay?”

“Let’s hope,” Bulma replied. “No thanks to either of you.”

She looked between the two brothers as the others entered the room. Yukina nearly tackled the guys so that she could get over to Hiei. Crystal tears began to fall as she started sobbing uncontrollably on her brother. Kuwabara came from behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, a comforting reminder that she was not alone. Botan, from the other side of the bed, took Hiei’s hand and noted how cold he felt. She tried to use some of her healing energy to ease his pain, but whether it made a difference, she couldn’t tell. Hiei did not seem to be responding to anything.

Kurama could tell what was going on, as he had seen so much in his life. He didn’t want to tell anyone yet until the doctor came in to explain to them why, but Kurama knew. Hiei was comatose right now, and nothing they did, transferring energy or otherwise, was going to wake him up. He watched helplessly as Yusuke moved to comfort Botan who, like Yukina, was starting to cry.

Vegeta looked to Kurama who was staring darkly at his son and realized that something was really wrong, and knowing that he was partly to blame for this was killing him inside. He hadn’t meant to hurt Hiei or be selfish. Yes, he was fighting for Hiei, but he was also fighting not to lose his son. But Hiei was right. If he had wanted to leave with Tarble, nothing could have stopped him. Vegeta assumed that staying was what Hiei wanted from the things he had been implying lately, but he hadn’t actually said the words. Vegeta made the mistake of trying to hold on to him longer. Now, he didn’t even know if he was going to be okay.

Trunks came back with the live-in doctor who had a grave expression as he looked over to the boy lying in the bed. “His blood revealed a few things,” he told Bulma.

Bulma looked up at him and said, “And what did it reveal?”

The doctor sighed, looking between all the people in the room. “The boy has been severely dehydrated, and his blood glucose levels were incredibly low. I’m surprised it didn’t kill him. It seems that he has been starving himself for quite a while.”

“Is that why he was throwing up blood?” Trunks asked, trying to play off his concern, but really he was panicking inside.

The doctor nodded. “If you don’t mind, I would like to take a look at the boy.”

“Of course,” Bulma said hesitantly.

The doctor walked over to the bed and Kuwabara and Yusuke were forced to pull the girls away. Ignoring the crystals littered all over the place, the doctor got to work, checking on a few things, including shining a light in Hiei’s eyes. He was happy to see that Hiei was breathing on his own, but he had seen cases like this enough to know what’s going on.

“D-doctor?” Yukina called weakly. He turned to her and nodded to her to ask her question. “W-when is my brother going to wake up?”

The doctor smiled sadly, not wanting to admit this to everyone in the room. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know.” He looked to Bulma who looked like she wanted to kill him. “I’m sorry, but he has slipped into a coma. The only thing I can do is hook him up to an IV to replenish his fluids and the nutrients he lost from starving himself. I can do nothing more. I really am sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Kurama said to him. “Hiei will fight it, just like he always does.”

The doctor nodded and went to go get the materials for the IV. Bulma just shook her head, not wanting to believe what the doctor had said. She didn’t know what she’d do if they couldn’t wake Hiei up. She loved him like her own children and this was just too much to take.

She broke down into tears as well, Trunks catching her before she fell to the ground. He hugged her tightly, forcing himself not to join her in a round of tears. Vegeta moved to go comfort his wife, but she stopped him with a heated glare. “Don’t take another step, Vegeta. I want both you and Tarble out of this room, now.”

Vegeta nodded, knowing not to push anyone else today, so he left not wanting to cause Bulma more pain that he could already feel she was in. He sent a chilling sneer to Tarble as he left the room, before Tarble looked back in and then turned to follow him.

“Kazuma, do you think Hiei will wake up when they give him the nutrients he needs?” Yukina asked hopefully.

“Sure, Yukina,” Kuwabara said, though he was not sure. He looked to Yusuke who was still hugging Botan and patting her back. Kurama nodded to both of them and then said, “Why don’t we go do Hiei a huge favor and continue taking care of his fish? I bet that will make him happy.”

“Hey, you’re right, Kurama, as usual,” Yusuke agreed, playing along. “You guys are going to think the tank is so cool. Come on,” he said nudging Botan a little bit, “let’s go feed the fish.”

Botan sniffled a little bit, pulling away from Yusuke and nodded. “Okay,” she whispered, her voice hoarse from tears.

“Yukina, we can come back later,” Kuwabara told her. “I’ll clean up in here and meet you upstairs so we can help with the fish.”

Yukina, too, nodded weakly before Kurama started to lead her out of the room. Trunks watched Kuwabara as he started gathering the jewels on the bed and floor before he threw them out into the trash and left the room quickly to get back to Yukina.

“Trunks,” Bulma called out.

“Yeah mom,” he replied.

“I want you to go take your sister to stay with your grandparents. I don’t want her to know about Hiei, not yet, until we have some idea on how long it will take for him to wake up. Just tell her that grandma and grandpa wanted to spend time with her, okay?”

“Of course, mom,” Trunks replied. “And you? Are you going to be okay?”

Bulma just shrugged. She honestly didn’t know. She only hoped that being re-nourished would serve as a catalyst to wake Hiei up, but how long it would take to replenish his body and energy, Bulma didn’t know. All she knew was she definitely wasn’t leaving Hiei’s side until she knew. She would keep vigil and protect Hiei from all that she could, at least until he was awake and strong enough to do it himself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. There will be dialogue from the prequel by dragoscilvio later in the chapter.

His heart rate was normal, his breathing was normal, yet his color was still pale. At least, that was what Bulma was telling him when she was scolding him and blaming him for Hiei’s condition. Vegeta couldn’t blame her. He was partly responsible, and he knew it. He still wasn’t able to enter the room, and he desperately wanted to.

Bulma was on standstill right now, simply going through the motions. Trunks was back and making sure his mother ate. Where she didn’t need as much as a Saiyan, he knew she would not be going out of the room. The lavender-haired hybrid could not blame her. If he could help it, he would be keeping guard over his brother. Unfortunately someone had to run the company while his mother waited with Hiei, and that someone had to be him.

Bra was still unaware of anything going on with Hiei. Her grandparents were keeping her busy with many trips around the country. She was sending letters to both of her brothers, her parents, and even Yukina who she had come to see as a sister. The little girl had no idea that Hiei was unable to read her letters right now. They didn’t know how much longer they could keep it from her, especially when they had no idea when Hiei would wake up.

Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara took turns trying to distract Yukina and Botan from the situation. Aside from Bulma, they were taking it the hardest. The guys did their best keeping the girls out of the room while still going to get updates and watch over their friend. Mainly, the biggest distraction yet was taking care of Hiei’s fish which seemed to have a personality of its own. Where the fish remained active with the girls in the room in attempts to cheer them up, Yusuke noticed that when the girls were gone, the fish seemed to hide away waiting for the return of his master and friend. Even Goten seemed to get the heaviness of the situation and hadn’t made done or said anything to annoy anyone in the group, not even making his latest attempt to hit on Botan.

And then there was Tarble. Gure was doing her best to comfort her husband, but nothing could be said or done to take away the guilt. Yeah, he knew Hiei had been angry at Vegeta too, which did help slightly, but he couldn’t get over his son’s words. Did his son really mean it when he said he couldn’t bear to look at him? And why had he said he hated Vegeta more than he hated him in that one moment? That meant Hiei hated him greatly, and that Vegeta did one thing to make him this angry. Maybe he should have listened to Bulma, but it was hard not to be a father to his own child when he hadn’t been given the chance. Now that he had been given a chance, he wanted to make up for lost time, but that had been wrong and he hadn’t seen it until Hiei raged and nearly killed himself to make his feelings known. Tarble could admit it now that he put his own son in the family hospital. He had been a terrible father to Hiei. Now, he may never get the chance to make things right with the boy. Who knew how long it would take for him to wake up? Even if he woke up, he probably still wouldn’t want to talk with him. Tarble then made a promise to himself. If Hiei woke up and wanted nothing to do with him, he would leave and never come back. It would be the least he could do for causing his son so much pain. Until Hiei woke up, he would try to work things out with his daughter at least. Then maybe he’d feel like he had some closure with his two children.

* * *

“Mom,” Trunks breathed out, “you should really get some sleep. I’m worried about you.”

Bulma had barely left the room and had barely been sleeping. She only left a few times a day to stretch her legs while the doctor did more tests, to use the restroom, and to scold Vegeta when she went to tell him Hiei’s status. She ate in the room with Hiei and demanded coffee the majority of the day. For the last few weeks, she had been surviving on less than three hours of sleep collectively throughout each day, and she was sleeping in the chair and not a bed. Trunks was worried that his mother would make herself sick if she didn’t get at least one goodnight’s sleep.

“I don’t want to deal with your father right now,” she said bitterly to her son as she watched Hiei breathing on his own, a sign of progress as she was told.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Trunks admitted. “He’s been locked up in the gravity room for the past three days. He was my next stop actually. He’s not eating anything right now, even when I leave it for him.”

Bulma muttered an incoherent curse before getting out of her chair. She moved to the door and paused. “Stay with Hiei, Trunks,” she calmly ordered. “I guess I have to go deal with that stubborn Saiyan. No way I’m dealing with two comatose family members because he’s refusing to take care of himself.”

Trunks sighed in relief when his mother left. He looked over to Hiei and smiled a bit. “You better wake up soon, bro,” he tried to joke. “If you don’t, I think our parents are going to totally lose it.”

Hiei let out a soft snore, shocking Trunks, but when the lavender-haired Saiyan looked to his brother, he was still unconscious. “Weird,” he muttered. “I wonder if you really can hear what people are saying when you’re in a coma.” Trunks waited until his mother returned to the room, but he failed to notice the soft glow below Hiei’s headband. If he had noticed it, he would know that Hiei was at least a little closer to waking.

* * *

“Vegeta, get your over trained butt out here!” Bulma yelled as she banged her little fist on the door of the GR.

Vegeta grunted in frustration, being interrupted yet again in his training. He just knew the brat would go to his mother to get him out of the GR. He couldn’t blame Trunks for it, as he was increasing the boy’s worry more and more, but being banned from the hospital room left him with more hurt and rage than he had felt since the first time he came to Earth. That was the reason he decided to adopt his old training montage and behavior. This time, though, he wouldn’t be able to just ignore Bulma. She wasn’t the “servant woman” to him anymore, but his wife and mother of his children that he had hurt and upset. Still unhappy about pausing his activity, he turned the gravity simulation off, allowing Bulma to open the door and barge in on him.

“Alright Vegeta, enough is enough,” she started to rant before seeing the condition he was in. Sure, Vegeta never really took care of himself when he trained back in the day, but she hadn’t seen him looking this beat up for a long time. It shocked her to see new scars from intense training, but he looked rundown and exhausted as well. At least when he first came to Earth, he’d stop when he was tired, rest a few hours, and then go back to training.

Vegeta tried to ignore her scrutiny and grabbed a new towel to wipe away the sweat pouring from his body while breathing slightly heavily. He knew a break was in order, but he did not feel like resting or eating. He didn’t feel like returning to the compound at night to sleep since his wife was angry with him and would not be there. For a moment, he was starting to wonder if this was how Hiei felt since Tarble arrived, lost and alone with nothing to do and no comfort to be found. He knew that the sleep and eating thing was spot on since that was how Hiei ended up in a coma, and with that thought, it finally dawned on Vegeta why his wife was there.

He turned quickly and saw her face flushed with concern and fear. She wasn’t here to berate him more or give him an update on Hiei. She was worried that he was going to end up like their son. Bulma didn’t even have to say anything before Vegeta took the hint and threw down the towel. The Saiyan prince walked over to her, giving her arms a quick squeeze before saying, “I’m going to shower and then eat. I’ll rest for the rest of the day.”

He left her standing there in sadness at the distant behavior. There was still some animosity and tenseness there, but Bulma was now seeing that Vegeta was hurt and returning to his old self once again. Shaking her head, she left the GR. The couple definitely needed to talk about things, but first thing was first, she needed to get everyone back in order starting with the stubborn prince. She had to stop punishing her husband for putting Hiei in this condition. What happened had happened, but now she needed to make sure that it never happened again. It looked like everyone was learning lessons like this the hard way.

* * *

Yukina was in Hiei’s room with Botan, the two of them cleaning and taking care of Ryuu. The fish looked a little stronger and happier today of all days. Botan was curious about the fish’s change in demeanor, but it made her smile with her positive thinking that every day, Hiei was also getting stronger.

A knock on the door was heard, and the two girls stopped their movements and stared at the figure in the door. “Hi,” Tarble greeted awkwardly. “I was wondering if I could talk to Yukina for a moment.” When he received no answer, he added, “It’s okay if you say ‘no.’ I just wanted to check on you.”

Botan looked worriedly at the young ice maiden. When Yukina nodded to Tarble and then flashed her a look of appreciation, Botan took that as her cue to leave, but she would make sure she didn’t go far.

Yukina sat down on the bed and motioned to Hiei’s desk chair. Tarble, thankful for the invitation, hurried his steps and sat down. Ryuu hid behind the fake red plant, and Tarble sighed. “Great,” he mumbled. “Even his fish hates me.”

“I don’t think brother meant what he said,” Yukina told him sincerely. “He just didn’t know what to do or say while he was hurting. Our people did that to him.”

“What do you mean?” Tarble asked. He frowned when Yukina shook her head. It seemed everyone was going to keep him in the dark about what the other ice maidens did to his family. How he wished Hina would have just stayed with him back then. He would have wanted to help her through everything.

“What did you want to talk about?” Yukina asked Tarble.

The Saiyan looked away in shame before stating his apology. “I’m sorry, Yukina,” he told her, “but I don’t even know where to begin. I would tell you the same story I told Goku if I thought it would help you, but all I can really say is that I’m so sorry this all happened. I never meant to leave any of you behind. Your mother left me a note saying she returned to her people. I didn’t know what else to do except leave.”

Yukina nodded to him showing him she understood. “I know,” she whispered. “Our people were taught differently than anyone else. It was a crime to fall in love like she did. I can’t tell you why or what happened, because you should hear that all from Hiei’s perspective and not mine. All I can tell you is that I never want to go back there. I’d rather stay with my friends, which is also why I cannot go with you.”

Tarble was again hurt by her confession, but he was now starting to understand that he couldn’t pressure his kids or uproot them. This was what Bulma had meant by letting them come to him. He needed to wait until they thought it over and made their peace with this. Why hadn’t he listened to his sister-in-law?

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to see you, though,” Yukina admitted. “I just don’t want to leave my home. I only just found where I belonged and I can’t leave there any time soon, but I still want to get to know you.”

“Really?” Tarble asked hopefully. When Yukina nodded, he slumped his shoulders down and bowed his head. “Thank you, Yukina.”

Yukina flashed him a smile before excusing herself from the room. Tarble looked back over to Ryuu who was now peeking out from behind his hiding spot. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered to the fish. “I made mistakes I have to fix.” Ryuu responded by just settling along the rocks again. “You know you’re crazy when you start talking to fish and picture them actually talking back,” he muttered to himself.

* * *

Bulma found Vegeta in bed after he had left a mess in the kitchen sink. At least he had kept his promise and had finally eaten something and gone to bed. She slid in next to him and kept her back facing his. Neither of them said anything. Vegeta didn’t know what to say, but when Bulma sighed, he knew she’d be the first to break the silence.

“I’m sorry I kept you away from him,” she told him. “I was angry at the situation and I took it out on you. There is still so much unknown about whether or not he’ll wake up, and since I can’t control it, I knew I could control who entered the room. It was my way of coping and I can’t feel bad about it, but I am sorry.”

“It was a normal reaction,” Vegeta acknowledged. “I would want to keep anyone who hurt my child away from him. I took it too far, though. I should have let the boy fight his own battles.”

“It’s what parents do, Vegeta,” Bulma continued. “We protect our children. But sometimes, we need to let them have control over their own situation and just act as guides for them. Believe me; it’s going to be much more difficult when we have a rebellious teenaged daughter on our hands.”

“Oh joy,” Vegeta grumbled before turning over to face Bulma. She still had her back turned to him. “I am sorry I hurt the boy. It was never my intention.”

Bulma then turned to face him and rested her hand against his cheek. “We can’t change it,” she told him. “We can only move forward. Now, get some sleep, and then later WE can go check up on our son.”

Vegeta gave a curt nod before closing his eyes and moving closer to Bulma. Now that things were somewhat cleared up, he felt a little better, but he still needed to see Hiei. He needed to see that he was still alive. He could only pray he’d wake up soon. If he had to deal with Hiei hating him for a while, he would, just as long as he would wake.

* * *

Later, Tarble decided to go check on Hiei. He had heard from Trunks that Bulma was asleep, so now was his only chance. When he saw Vegeta in there, he thought twice about entering the room.

Vegeta was standing at Hiei’s bedside, a hand on the mattress that was clenched in rage. After his and his brother’s fight, Tarble had done his best to avoid the older Saiyan. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened that day.

Vegeta sighed in anger, sensing Tarble paused in the middle of the doorway. “Either you’re going to enter, or you won’t,” he said angrily, “but I swear if you don’t make a decision now, I will force you to make one. Do you know how irritating it is to sense someone watching you like that?”

“Um, no,” Tarble replied awkwardly. “I can’t sense energy as well as you can.” He finally settled on entering the room and joined Vegeta next to Hiei’s bed. “How is he?”

“Stable,” Vegeta replied shortly. “That’s about it. No news on when he will wake up.”

“If he wakes up,” Tarble said negatively.

He received a smack upside his head and looked over to Vegeta who was glaring at him. “Don’t say that around me or him again, and especially not in front of Bulma,” Vegeta ordered. “There is no room here for pessimism. Hiei will wake up. He has to. He is a strong fighter and something as petty as our fight won’t be what ends him, understand?”

Tarble simply nodded and went back to staring at Hiei. “I shouldn’t have pushed him,” he admitted. “Either of them. I was wrong.”

“As was I,” Vegeta confessed. “Part of the fight was for Hiei, but the other part was me not wanting to lose my son to you. You were right about that motive.”

“And I didn’t want to lose my son period,” Tarble explained. “I just wanted time to get to know him and take him home with me. But after talking to Yukina earlier, I realized I would have been taking him from his home. That was selfish of me.”

Vegeta chuckled slightly. “We should take a page from their book,” Vegeta suggested. Tarble looked at him with confusion lighting his dark eyes. “They too were separated from each other, yet they get along well and ignore the past mistakes. I still don’t want to lose Hiei, but whatever decision he makes, I will support as long as you do not try to keep him from me. If you do, I will hunt you down, brother.”

Tarble laughed nervously at Vegeta’s threat. He understood perfectly well, but he also understood that Hiei would not choose to leave Earth, especially since his sister would remain there. “We’ll work something out WHEN he wakes up and makes his decision,” he agreed.

The two brothers grew silent after their agreement was made. There was less tension in the room before Hiei’s Jagan glowed even brighter under his headband, engulfing both Saiyans in the process. As light cleared around them, they were somewhere else entirely.

Vegeta looked around the dark and dank landscape. He had no idea why Hiei was transporting them there, but he saw a look of familiarity lighting his brother’s features. “Where are we?” he asked.

“Demon World,” Tarble responded in shock. “Back when I met Hina.”

“Their mother,” Vegeta stated. Tarble’s nod confirmed his wondering.

_“Where are we?" they heard the past version of Tarble ask._

_"I am an ice maiden, and we are in Demon World."_

_“My God,” the current Tarble whispered. “I forgot how much I missed the sound of her voice.”_

_Vegeta quirked his eyebrow in response but shook off his interest in his brother’s past relationship. Where they were now was obviously some sort of trap the Jagan wanted to place them in. They were inside Tarble’s mind right now, but the significance did not hit the stoic Saiyan prince yet._

_"Oh, I understand now. You're an alien, right? I hear other demons say that they come across humans that think their aliens. Well, then, we are on Planet Earth, but in a different dimension where humans can't get to," Hina’s voice said._

" _Oh," Tarble said. "I don't know how to get back…"_

_"It'll be okay. Dimensional distortions appear all the time, and if you have supplies, I'm sure you can fix it, right?"_

“So,” Vegeta stated, “she was helping you to get back.”

“At first,” Tarble replied, blushing at the fact that his brother was seeing his innermost thoughts that he kept hidden, even from Gure.

“So what is your planet like?” Hina asked in interest, days after Tarble’s crash.

“Well, I don’t really know,” Tarble admitted as he was connecting some wires on the space pod. “I mean, where I was born, I don’t know much about it. I know I was sent away because I was weak, but that’s about it. I was trying to get there to learn more before I ended up here.”

“Oh,” Hina replied sadly. “I am sorry…I didn’t mean to upset you by talking about it.”

“No!” Tarble exclaimed, turning to her quickly. “I mean, I’m not upset. I got to grow up on this really nice planet with people that treated me like their own, even though I was different. I was planning on going back after learning about my people and my abilities.”

“Well,” Hina said with a smile, “in that case, I hope you learn everything you wish to know.” She looked away from him, out into the small stream next to their camp. “I myself am out finding myself. My people have certain ideals that I don’t agree with and so I am trying to learn more about the outside world.”

“What ideals don’t you agree with?” Tarble asked as he fiddled with more mechanical parts. When he received no response, he turned to find Hina crying tears of crystal. “Hina?” he asked in alarm. “Hina, what’s wrong?”

He rushed over to her side, and she grasped onto him for dear life pulling him in for the first kiss either of them had received. Tarble had no idea what to think as their kisses became more desperate and they sought comfort in one another. Vegeta looked over to the current version of his brother and saw his face flash with longing. It was then that the older Saiyan knew that his brother truly loved the woman in his mental counterpart’s arms.

Vegeta watched as his brother awoke in the morning only to find Hina gone and a note in her place. His brother’s counterpart glanced over the letter, speaking the painful words on the paper.

“‘Tarble, these past few days have been great, but we must now go our separate ways. I need to return to my people and I am sure that I won’t be coming back, and you have a mission to accomplish before you can return home. A dimensional opening has appeared nearby. It should be open long enough for you to finish your ship and leave. I hope you find what you are looking for. You have shown me what I needed to find. I wish you the best. Hina.’”

The memories faded as Tarble felt to his hands and knees. Vegeta just watched his younger brother begin to cry his tears of pain. He was not one to offer comfort, especially to the brother he was ready to kill weeks before, but he did silently pity him. Vegeta didn’t know what he would have done had he not met Bulma. It was the thought of not returning to Earth that instigated his transformation to Super Saiyan, though not even she knew that. He couldn’t imagine the pain Tarble was feeling. Before anything could be said, they were flashed somewhere else, a colder environment with never ending snow.

“W-Where?” Tarble asked wiping his tears away. That was when his eyes noticed Hina, an older woman, and a baby boy.

“Just let me have my son, and I will take my children and leave!” Hina pleaded with her. “Please, don’t take my baby!”

The older ice maiden ignored the crystal tears littering the ground. “The boy is the imiko and will destroy us all. I will allow you to raise the girl, but the boy must be executed.”

“NO!” Hina’s piercing wail rang out making both Saiyans cringe.

They watched Hina run out only to be held back by other ice maidens. The elder ice maiden handed the bundle over to another woman. “Do not pity the beast, Rui. He is the imiko and deserves to die.”

“Rui, don’t do this!” Hina cried. “Give me back my baby!”

The woman, Rui, tucked a tear gem into the baby’s blankets. “When you come back for the revenge you deserve,” she said to the bundle, “please…kill me first. It’s the least I can do for what I’m about to do to you.”

As the bundle was tossed from Rui’s arms, and more of Hina’s cries rang out around them, the scenery changed as the bundle fell. It bounced off of a few trees before landing on a branch next to a river where a group of thieves found him.

“These are Hiei’s memories,” Vegeta gasped in shock.

Tarble shook his head, his mouth gaping open. “They tried to kill him…for what? What the heck is an imiko, Vegeta?”

Vegeta couldn’t respond. He was in complete shock. Hiei had told him much about his past, and even that he remembered the majority of what happened to him, but Vegeta could not picture what he had told him. Seeing it angered him so greatly, but what anger him more was the memory they saw next. Hiei was now a child, wielding a sword and running from the thieves he grew up with.

“Come on, Hiei,” one said. “Just hand over the pretty gem and we won’t have to kill you.”

Hiei smirked, knowing they would not be able to catch up with him. He looked to his mother’s tear gem and grinned sadistically as he thought to himself, “If I make these kills, I can finally justify what they did to me.” And he did succeed in making those kills, and it made him feel both animosity towards himself and relief that he could finally accept what his people did to him.

Vegeta had been a killer by choice and necessity, for the most part, as that was what he was trained to do, but Hiei had become one because of misguided anger and the hurtful words of others.

Hiei stood over his kills and reveled in the feeling of adrenaline that flowed through his veins. “I am the imiko,” he thought. “A child of fire, a cursed being forbidden by a hateful race of hypocritical females. I will live my life as they had expected, and kill every last opponent I face.”

They saw many more kills flash by and Hiei was becoming more and more aggressive and ruthless as he grew older. One day, after succeeding in a thieving mission he set for himself, he returned to his “family” and found them all trying to get away from him. The young fire demon’s face fell before he turned away and went elsewhere. The wilderness had just become his new home.

“I can’t,” Tarble whispered. Vegeta thought his brother was about to criticize Hiei’s actions, but then Tarble finished his statement. “I can’t believe they did that to him. They alienated him from everything, didn’t they?”

Vegeta nodded, remembering how closed off Hiei had been to him in the beginning. When Vegeta had admitted to Hiei that they were family and Hiei grew angry with him, it wasn’t because Hiei was angry at having a family, but that Vegeta had just acknowledge that the boy could have one. Hiei had not been used to being accepted by anyone save his mother who had never even gotten the chance to hold him.

The scene changed to a slightly older Hiei staring at his mother’s tear gem. He looked so calm, blinking at the small orb in his hand. It was his most important possession. “Mother,” he whispered. He then clenched his hand around the gem and glared out into the forest ahead of him. “I’ll find them, and I will kill them all! Not one ice maiden will escape my wrath!”

Tarble paled when he heard Hiei so adamantly declare the deaths of an entire race of people, but he did understand the anger. If he had known what Hina was going to have to go through to have his children and suffer from being with him, he would have found a way to hunt them down and take back the woman he loved and their children.

The next sequence of events was fuzzy, but pretty much followed as Hiei was attacked by a demon in the forest. Hiei attempted to avoid fighting the demon as he was more determined to find the glacial village. The demon didn’t give Hiei a choice and during the fight, Hiei was separated from his mother’s tear gem and killed his opponent in an incoherent rage.

Afterwards, Hiei found a surgeon to perform surgery to implant the Jagan that was showing them all of these mental images. If there was one thing either of the two Saiyans hated, it was seeing Hiei screaming in agony like when he had before he collapsed at the compound. Now they were watching him struggling, trying to move his arms and legs that were bolted down to a table. Hiei wanted to tear himself apart to stop the pain, but the surgeon just continued with the surgery as if Hiei was an unconscious patient.

“This surgery took all of your strength, Hiei,” the surgeon told the fire demon the next day as he grabbed his sword.

“I know,” Hiei murmured. “I knew going into it.”

“If you leave now, you will be killed.” It was a statement of fact, not an opinion.

“I have no need for your lectures,” Hiei snapped at the older demon. “There is nothing you can do to stop me from leaving and completing my mission.”

The doctor rolled his eyes and said, “I would rather my work be utilized, and that will not happen if you foolishly march out into the forest. I am offering to train you to defend yourself before you leave.”

“Train me?” Hiei thought in shock. “Maybe I will stick around,” he said out loud before adding in his mind, “Maybe I can steal his technique.”

The next image the Jagan showed to its two hostages was the snowy lands of the glacial village. Hiei was walking through, staring at the ice maidens from beneath his scarf. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, ready to take the lives on each and every woman who neared him, but no one neared him. Every woman he saw ran and hid in fear of an unknown man entering their territory.

The village had no life, Hiei observed. The women’s eyes revealed no soul to them. “They are already dead,” Hiei said to himself as he continued to survey his old homeland. A bitter taste entered his mouth as he thought of it as such. “I have no attachments here,” he said lying to himself as he thought of his mother. He froze in place as he thought of going to see her. “Would she still want me?” he asked himself in his mind. What if the time apart changed her views? What if she too wanted him dead? He was, after all, a killer and a thief.

Vegeta shook his head. He had no idea how warped Hiei’s way of thinking was. Sure, he had issues accepting his family when he brought him home, and he had refused to tell Yukina about his identity, but Vegeta would have assumed that it was the fear of accepting family as he had seen in his childhood counterpart. How could this boy think any of his family wanted him dead?

Hiei stumbled across Rui, the woman who had tossed him aside. She noticed him and backed away. “I won’t hurt you,” Hiei growled, not making the woman feel any better. “I’m looking for a woman I used to know,” he told her. “Hina.”

Rui relaxed and shook her head. Before motioning for Hiei to follow her. She led him to a carved stone, a tomb for his dead mother. Hiei walked over and placed his hand on her grave marker, looking down at the snow below.

“She committed suicide shortly after she had given birth to two children,” Rui explained. “She was never able to deal with the pain of losing her son. Her daughter left not too long ago. She has her mother’s ideals, that’s for sure.”

Hiei knew he couldn’t stay at the grave any longer, silently blaming himself for his mother’s death. If he hadn’t been born and his mother’s people hadn’t had to kill one of her children, she would be alive, raising his sister. Closing his eyes, and accepting the guilt, he turned and walked away, ready to search for his sister. When he found her, and they were finally reunited, he could not bring himself to tell her who she was. He feared the rejection he told himself she would give him, the same rejection he feared his mother would have had knowing that he chose a life of crime. It was also what he remembered from childhood as his adoptive family shunned him for his murderous habits. Hiei continued to wander and lie to Yukina, going so far as to tell her that her brother was dead, before the Jagan showed the two Saiyans darkness once more.

“I…I don’t understand,” Tarble said to Vegeta. “I can sit here and watch the images all day, even the murders, and still not think he did anything wrong.”

“That’s because he was the one who was wronged,” Vegeta explained, clenching his fists until they bled. “Those heartless women,” he growled. “They would have been lucky to have Hiei among them.”

“No wonder he hates me,” Tarble accepted. “Hiei has never been able to make his own decisions. Everything was chosen for him by this culture that was supposed to be peaceful. What was he supposed to do with that?”

Vegeta was about to answer when they were transported to Genkai’s temple. Tarble did not recognize the structure, but Vegeta could. This was where he met his nephew the first time.

"Wow…" Goku whispered, "He is Saiyan alright, and if I didn't know better I would say he was related to you, Vegeta."

The Saiyan prince cocked an incredulous eyebrow at his longtime rival, and then once again examined the sleeping boy. True he did hold a little resemblance of his family, but that meant nothing. Most Saiyans looked similar to each other, it was an accepted fact, but Vegeta couldn't shake the feeling that Kakarot may be right. Leaning down he ran his hand through the boy's hair, smiling at how soft it was despite its blatant disregard for gravity. The child stilled at the touch, then gave a contented sigh. Slowly opening his eyes, a bleary ruby gaze took in the hazy figure of the well-built Saiyan prince.

"Father?" Hiei called out before rushing to attack the stranger in the room.

Vegeta felt his world tilt at the boy's question, and even in his current state could feel the same painful feeling he felt when he heard the desperation back then, especially now after he had seen the boy’s past.

"Who are you?" the fire apparition snarled.

"I'm the man who's going to teach you how to control that energy of yours, that's who I am," Vegeta replied.

Hiei's apathetic mask cracked for just a split second as he felt confusion envelope his senses, and looked up to Kurama and Yusuke for confirmation. "Is what he says true?"

"It appears that way," Kurama answered calmly.

"Hn." Turning back to his 'hostage,' Hiei pulled the blade away from the man's throat and stepped back. "Whatever. If you're here to teach me how to use this new power, then prove to me you know what you are doing. I want to gain control over it sooner rather than later."

"Oh yeah," Goku chuckled as he watched the small fire demon leave the room. "I would definitely say he's related to you. You have the same charm."

Vegeta sent a menacing growl towards his rival and then walked out of the room and followed Hiei outside. His hands wound around the hilt of his weapon, waiting for Vegeta to fight him. Vegeta walked down the stairs, and stepped onto the grass, his own gaze carefully measuring the small demon.

"How old are you anyway?" he asked. "You look no older than a child."

"My age is no concern of yours, old man," Hiei growled. "All you need to know is that I'm old enough to have killed more people than you can imagine."

"Oh is that so?" Vegeta replied in a mocking tone. "Then I guess I should be afraid of you?"

The small apparition smirked confidently at the stranger. "You would if you were smart."

The Saiyan prince gave a low chuckle before assuming a battle stance. "Before we begin," he said with his own equally confident smile, "might I know the name of the warrior who is going to teach me fear?"

"Hiei," the demon raised his sword, his feet sliding into position. "And you?"

"Prince Vegeta, now fight!"

The fight didn’t last long, and Vegeta chuckled at the thought of how he won. Poor Hiei had no idea what he was dealing with in the very beginning. Even Vegeta hadn’t expected things to turn out as they had.

"I thought you were going to teach me to fear you? Is this how you defeat your enemies? Though I have to admit, with the training you have had had thus far, you are actually quite strong, but you are still no match for me."

“Did you really say that to him?” Tarble asked.

“Yes,” Vegeta replied. “These must be my memories now.”

“Why is the Jagan thing doing this?” Tarble asked. Vegeta simply shrugged in response as they watched another of his memories from after their first training session played.

"You know," Hiei muttered irritably, "I'm _really_ getting tired of waking up like this."

Leaning forward with a soft chuckle, Vegeta gently spread the cloth across the demon's forehead, but stopped with a jerk when the boy hissed in pain. Pushing the hand away, Hiei growled, "Not there."

"Well if not there, then where?" Vegeta asked. "If you haven't noticed, you have a high fever, and if you don't cool down soon the sickness will only get worse."

Rolling over onto his stomach, the small demon groaned and then, grabbing the washcloth, spread it across the back of his neck. Hiei sent a petulant glare over at Vegeta as he was watching him rest.

"What?" he growled.

"Who is your father?" Vegeta asked softly.

"I don't know," Hiei replied in a monotone voice. "I was obviously never very high on his list of priorities, much less considered important to him, and the same goes for me towards him. His existence or identity is not anything I care to know about."

Vegeta saw Tarble cringe as he heard the words Hiei had spoken back then, before he had ever opened up to him.

"Why would you say that?" Vegeta asked, sounding confused. "Every boy needs a father, or at least someone they can trust to help show them the way."

"Well I don't." It was that cut and dry for him then.

"Liar," Vegeta accused. Even now, he still mouthed the word he had spoken then. He would never forget how much hate Hiei possessed in the very beginning towards him. He only hoped he could repair their broken bond once he had woken up.

"What's it matter to you anyway?" Vegeta found himself once again being pinned down by those angry red eyes, his heart clenching tighter and tighter as bitterness and pain dripped from every syllable that Hiei uttered. "The man obviously didn't want me, nor does he need me, just like I don't need him. So let's just leave it at that!"

With an angry huff, the boy turned his head away from the concerned look that the warrior was giving him. Vegeta simply gazed at him and then reached forward to check his temperature, but as soon as his fingers grazed skin, the small demon irritably slapped his hand away. With a sigh at having to resort to extreme measures so quickly, the Saiyan merely grabbed a hold of Hiei's tail, and once again began stroking it, smiling at the result. The small demon melted into the mattress, and once Vegeta was sure that the apparition was too incapacitated to do much of anything, he checked the boy's temperature. Hiei growled at the touch but closed his eyes. The small demon let his breaths even out and deepen, until finally a calm and peaceful sleep overtook him. Vegeta nodded his head in satisfaction. It seemed that his fever was slowly going down, though it was still high enough for worry. He just needed to rest for the duration of the day, and focus on getting his strength back. For the next few hours, the space warrior never moved from his seat, and stayed stroking the soft fur of Hiei's tail, remembering how his own father had comforted him the same way when he was ill as a child, that is before he had been given away as a peace offering to Frieza. A sorrowful sigh escaped his lips, and the gruff warrior shook his head free of the depressing memories from times past.

“He wasn’t either of our biggest fan, was he?” Tarble asked with a sad chuckle. Then he looked over to Vegeta. “Um, thanks for taking care of him despite that.”

“No thanks is required,” Vegeta told him. “I wanted to be there for him, especially when I found out the truth.”

"Yes?" Vegeta greeted on a communication device.

"Hey!" Goku's smiling face appeared on the screen. "How you holding up?"

"Fine," Vegeta growled at his rival. "Now why are you calling me?"

"You asked me to tell Bulma to test that kid's hair, remember?"

The Saiyan prince's eyes widened as he began to recall the mission he had asked Goku to accomplish. Heart beginning to beat wildly in his chest, the warrior leaned forward, curious expectation written across his face. "And? What was the result?"

"Don't ask me how it happened," Goku began, his image doing a confused shrug, "but the tests reveal that that boy is your nephew."

Vegeta's mouth fell open in shock. Hiei was his nephew. His mind went back to his younger brother Tarble, and how he had been sent away due to his uselessness in battle. He had been sent to another planet populated by extremely weak natives, and had somehow found a wife there. But on the way, was there a chance that he had stopped by Earth first and met Hiei's mother? The possibility, though farfetched, wasn't impossible and Vegeta found himself actually becoming angry with his younger sibling for abandoning his son. The fire demon's father issues, though sad, had never mad Vegeta this angry before. But now knowing the truth of how closely bonded he was to the child, the injustice done to him was practically unforgiveable.

"Hey Vegeta," Goku's voice shouted from the speakers, barely registering to the infuriated space warrior. "You okay?"

"No, I'm not Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted into the screen. "I just found out that my younger brother is a complete idiot and the boy I've been training is actually a part of my royal bloodline!"

Tarble and Vegeta looked to one another, now both of them knowing that wasn’t true. Still, Tarble did not expect an apology from Vegeta. He knew that that was how this all appeared back then.

"Hey don't get mad at me!" the image cried, waving his arms. "If you're so angry, then do something about it. I'm just trying to help."

Vegeta pursed his lips in an angry silence. Kakarot was right. If Hiei was truly his nephew, then he was responsible for the boy. Just as the Saiyan warrior was about to open his mouth and answer back at his rival, a piercing agony shot through his brain. Vegeta dropped the communicator, groaning in pain, and clutching his skull. Doubling over, he lay on the ground, and something formed through the fog of pain. Vague and incomprehensible, it slowly appeared out of the mist, and gained shape. It became a voice, and then, words.

"Help! Vegeta help me!"

Vegeta growled at his memory while Tarble cringed in fear. “V-Vegeta, what happened to Hiei that he was calling for help?”

“He was attacked by someone Frieza hired to exterminate the rest of us,” Vegeta told him. “When I got his mental cry, he was drowning.”

“What?” Tarble shouted in fear before the Jagan flashed them to that moment.

"Glad to see you could make it to the party!" the demon laughed.

"Where is Hiei?" Vegeta bellowed.

"Things got a little too hot for the little guy," the demon said smirking, “so he decided to take a swim and cool off."

The Saiyan prince cast wide eyes out to the lake, searching for any sign of his nephew, but the waters were still. Turning a venomous gaze onto Hiei's attacker, the space warrior snarled his fury. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing too violent," the water user shrugged. "All I did was capture him within a sphere of impenetrable ice, and set him down in the lake. Oh, of course I did make sure that he could breathe by putting a small hole on top, but then again it probably doesn't work too well under water, huh? I guess I never was one who was able to consider things all the way through."

Vegeta felt his limbs begin to tremble with the fury coursing through his veins. Every moment wasted talking to this fool was another moment his charge was closer to death! His face a disdainful sneer, the Saiyan pointed at the man he planned on defeating in a very violent way. "Unfortunately for you," the prince spat, "this was not the best time for you to come barging in here attempting to kill the boy. I just found out that my sorry excuse for a younger brother had been to Earth before, and apparently fathered a child, which makes that boy my nephew. And if you aren't as stupid as you look, I'm sure you realize that makes him royalty, and _my_ responsibility."

Tarble glared at Vegeta. “You really had to insult me to the enemy?”

Vegeta shrugged. “I was more worried about Hiei than your feelings in that moment, as I’m sure you can see.”

“Not so concerned. You decided to fight the guy while Hiei was down there!”

Vegeta shot Tarble a look of disbelief. “Are you truly that naïve, to believe that the enemy would have allowed me to rescue Hiei without an attack? I needed to kill him, or I would have never reached him in time. You’re too soft, brother.”

Tarble rolled his eyes but went back to watching his brother rescuing his son. Vegeta dashed towards the water, diving in. Swimming with all his strength, he searched for his nephew's energy, praying that he was not too late. Letting his senses guide him, it was about five minutes later till the prince found the remnants of the now shattered sphere. Amidst the wreckage floated a deathly pale form of Hiei, not moving. Diving forward, he caught the lifeless figure into his arms, and then used his energy to propel him up out of the water, and onto the beach.

Flinging the boy onto the sand, Vegeta was shocked to see how grey the child's pallor had become. His lips were blue from lack of oxygen, and not even an ounce of air was left in his lungs. Folding his hands over his nephew's chest, the Saiyan prince began pumping out the water, begging the boy to open his eyes. Bending down, he tilted Hiei's head back, and plugged his nose, giving mouth to mouth resuscitation, and then once again began pumping the boy's chest. After what seemed like hours of repetition, the warrior's efforts were rewarded with a gag, and then a violent cough followed by a gallon of lake water being spewed from his mouth. Rolling him onto his side, Vegeta gave firm slaps to the boy's back, aiding him in getting all excess lake water out of his lungs.

Chest heaving, Hiei coughed and sputtered, bringing huge gulps of air into his shivering body. Looking up from where he lay on the sand, the small fire apparition smiled sarcastically at the older man.

"Took you long enough," he choked out.

"Can't you swim?" Vegeta ground out, using his frustration to hide his immense relief.

Hiei turned away from him, his face coloring slightly as he gazed at the sand in embarrassment. "No," he muttered guiltily. "Being that I'm a fire demon, I don't do well in water. I have never been able to learn to swim because it weakens me, and eventually I lose even the strength to move."

"What about when it rains?" Vegeta asked.

"It depends," he said, words soft with shame. "If I can find adequate shelter, then it isn't too bad. But if I get caught in it, and am unable to find warmth, then I get sick and can even slip into a coma."

Vegeta growled at the image, his protectiveness for the boy growing as he processed this new piece of information concerning Hiei's Achilles heel. "Good to know."

Standing up to his knees, the prince grabbed the small demon under the arms, and flung him onto his back. Wrapping the boy's legs on either side of his ribs, Vegeta held onto him and used his energy to fly up into the air. As Vegeta sent a burst of power to propel them forward, Hiei couldn't hold back a delighted yell. Vegeta smirked when he remembered how much Hiei had enjoyed the feeling of flight, though not like when he pushed him off the side of the cliff. Thinking back, Vegeta frowned and wondered if it had reminded Hiei of the first time he was tossed away. He really hoped that wasn’t the case. He would never want to make Hiei relive such a traumatic incident.

Eyes starting to droop, Hiei laid his head on his teacher's shoulder, a happy smile quirking his mouth. "Hey Vegeta?"

"What?"

"I opened my third eye today." The demon's voice was slurred with fatigue, but Vegeta could still hear the proud smile in it.

"I know," he replied. "That's how I knew you were in trouble, you did very well today."

“The two of you got to be so close,” Tarble said in despair. “I wish I could be able to be close with him too.”

“Well, it didn’t take long before I angered him,” Vegeta admitted. “I broke the boy’s trust and I thought that he’d never want to be near me again.”

“What?” Tarble asked in surprise. “How?”

“I told him we were family when I was about ready to leave and offered him a home, and he did not react well to me waiting. I told him it was because I didn’t think he would have been able to handle the information, and like the day of our fight, he screamed at me telling me it was not up to me to decide what he could and couldn’t handle. I should have learned from that time.”

“But you worked through it, obviously, so I don’t think he’s going to stay mad at you,” Tarble told his brother. “Me on the other hand…”

“You don’t know that, Tarble,” Vegeta snapped. “This is what this whole thing has been about. We don’t know! We never knew anything about what happened back then, about Hiei’s past, and certainly not about Hiei. We only thought we knew.” Vegeta looked back at his own memories, seeing the disappointment again on Hiei’s face when he told him he couldn’t come home with him yet because of Frieza. Hiei hadn’t known why and just assumed Vegeta was taking everything back. Vegeta really wished he could go back and prevent all of this hurt from enveloping his son yet again.

It grew dark once more before light flashed and Tarble and Vegeta were back in the medical room with an unconscious Hiei. The two Saiyans just stared at one another before Tarble nodded to Vegeta and left the room. He knew Vegeta was right. They hadn’t known anything, and even though Vegeta had known more about Hiei’s life, the actual feeling of it, he would have never imagined. It wasn’t like when his father handed him over to Frieza to keep the peace. It was the boy’s own people trying to eliminate him, betraying him in the worst way possible.

The Saiyan prince took the hand resting on the bed and moved to stroke Hiei’s hair comfortingly. “I will never betray you again,” he promised. “This time I mean it more. Even by accident, I will never hurt you. All you have to do is tell me what you want and I will do anything to make it happen for you.”

Hiei sighed in his sleep before nuzzling against Vegeta’s hand. The Saiyan prince’s eyes widened when he saw red eyes looking back up at him, both shocked and confused. “Son,” he breathed out cautiously, waiting to see what Hiei would do or say next.

“Dad,” Hiei answered moving his hand to his father’s. Hiei’s eyes still would not leave Vegeta’s, his heart racing.

“What’s wrong, Hiei?” Vegeta asked, concern evident in his tone.

“I…I saw everything,” he replied. “I heard everything.” Hiei struggled to sit up with the cords that he had on him. As he tried to sit up, Vegeta held him back. Hiei shot him a glare, but relaxed when he saw the stunned expression of his father staring back at him.

“Let me go get the doctor,” he pleaded. “Just to make sure you’re all right.”

Hiei nodded before lying back down and staring up at the ceiling. All he could think of was everything that had just played out in the minds of himself, his father, and his uncle, and how much more confusing everything had become. Reluctant to rest more, Hiei patiently waited for the doctor to come while thinking of what he was going to do about his situation.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own YYH, DBZ, or the characters.

Everything for the rest of the day seemed to be moving in slow motion, at least for Vegeta. He moved as fast as he could to tell Bulma that Hiei had woken up, but the minutes it took him to get to her felt like it was taking too long. How long did he have to wait to tell his wife their son was okay?

Bulma was so thrilled to hear that Hiei had woken up, and would have been the first one in the room had Trunks not come home from the office. The lavender-haired kid had already engaged Hiei in conversation when their parents entered. The teen stood up and walked away from the bed, allowing his mother to charge at Hiei an embrace him while crying tears of joy.

“Oh thank God you’re all right,” she said placing kisses all over his face.

“Mo-om,” Hiei whined. “Do you have to do this in front of everyone?”

Bulma just laughed, along with Vegeta and Trunks, before pulling the fire demon close to her. “You will be lucky if I don’t shove food down your throat five times a day for what you put me through,” she joked before smiling at him. “I’ll make sure most of it is sweets.”

Hiei grinned slightly before frowning. “I’m sorry…I fell asleep and missed lunch. I was planning to eat, I swear.”

“I know, sweetie,” she said stroking his spiky hair. “We’ll just have to feed you really well tonight. I’ll go place some orders.”

Just then the doctor came in and was surprised to see Hiei looking so much better, color returning to his body. “It’s good to see you awake,” the doctor said. “Let’s check you out to make sure everything is fine.”

“Sure,” Hiei said looking around to the others. “Um, you guys can go now.”

Bulma frowned at him for a minute, but she did realize that she was hovering. Besides, she had food to order. “Oh alright,” she surrendered. “Come on, Trunks. You can tell me what’s been going on at the company.”

“Right mom,” Trunks replied. “See you later, bro.”

Hiei simply nodded before looking over to Vegeta with a frown. The young demi-Saiyan was still so confused by what he had heard and seen while unconscious. He wanted to stop it from the beginning until he saw how Tarble was reacting to his own memory. His own memories caused both him and Vegeta so much pain and he couldn’t shut them off. The Jagan took complete control over his and their minds. And Vegeta’s memories, all of him, showed him that Vegeta really had cared. He wasn’t trying to make decisions for him, not completely. In Hiei’s mind, Vegeta hadn’t had anything to worry about, but now he knew. The only man Hiei had come to see as a father was so worried about losing him. Hiei had never expected that.

Both Saiyans stared at one another intently, and the doctor was about to ask Vegeta to leave when Hiei said, “Can my dad stay?”

The doctor looked over to Vegeta and then back to his patient. “I don’t see why not.”

Vegeta felt relief wash over him. He had the answer to his biggest fear. Hiei still wanted him as a father, despite seeing Tarble’s memories. The older Saiyan prince had nothing to worry about except for his son making a full recovery. As the doctor began his examination, Vegeta saw his positive expressions. He knew before the doctor said anything that Hiei was fine.

“Okay, so no vigorous activity for about a week,” the doctor instructed. “Eat full, healthy meals, and none of this training that always seems to get one of you guys in here. If you agree to all of that, then you can leave and not be tied down to a bed.”

Hiei grumbled, “How long do I have to wait before training again?”

“A week to two weeks,” the doctor told him nonchalantly.

Hiei was about to make a rude remark, but Vegeta interrupted him. “He won’t. I’ll make sure of it.”

Hiei snorted. “You’re going to make sure I don’t train?” Hiei asked in disbelief. “Call the papers. I’m sure they’d be dying to hear that.”

“Shut up, boy,” Vegeta retorted, crossing his arms.

Hiei just smirked. “Whatever you say, old man.”

The doctor was completely oblivious to the Saiyans’ bonding moment while wondering why the Capsule Corp. president put up with such a rude husband and rebellious son. Of course, only being the family’s private doctor, he would have never understood the significance of the banter playing out before him. “Anyways,” he said stoically. “You’re free to go. Just take it easy. You’ve been out for a while, and you’ll probably have to work your muscles or they’ll give out.”

Hiei and Vegeta flashed each other bored looks, and Hiei ignored the doctor’s warning by simply hopping off the bed and walking out of the room. Vegeta chuckled at the doctor’s dumbfounded expression. “The boy seems fine to me,” he teased before following behind Hiei.

* * *

“He’s awake?” Yusuke shouted. “How long ago and why didn’t anyone get us?”

Trunks shook his head and laughed. “He _just_ woke up and I did come to get you.”

“Brother!” Yukina exclaimed happily as Hiei rounded the corner. Everyone was surprised to see her move so fast, but even more surprised that when she tackled Hiei with a hug, he almost fell backwards. He put one arm around her and smiled slightly. No one had seen Hiei this laid back in a long time.

“Hey Yukina,” he greeted warmly. “How have you been holding up?”

“I missed you,” she answered honestly, looking up at him with unshed tears in her eyes.

Hiei frowned before wiping the drops away with his free hand, and then hugging his sister tighter. He squeezed his eyes shut attempting to rein in the anger he felt anytime he saw tears. “I love you, big brother,” Yukina whispered in his ear, causing his smile to return.

“Hey, buddy!” Yusuke roared like an idiot before nearly jumping on the two siblings. Hiei muttered something no one understood before reluctantly letting go of Yukina.

“Detective,” Hiei replied stoically. “What have I missed?”

“Nothing really,” Yusuke explained. “We took turns taking care of your fish and really everything’s been at a standstill.”

“Oh, you did get a bunch of letters from Bra, though,” Kuwabara spoke up. Hiei looked at the human like he had three heads. “She doesn’t know you’ve been comatose.”

“Oh,” was all Hiei said. “Where are the letters?”

“In you room,” Trunks said. “I put them up there on your desk.”

“Thanks, I’ll go look now,” Hiei replied. “No sense in letting her know what happened.”

“Agreed,” the guys all said.

Hiei looked over to Yukina and squeezed her hand once more before going up to his room. When he did get up there, he found Kurama and Botan in there. Botan was watching Ryuu eat and Kurama was making sure Hiei’s room was well dusted. Hiei smirked before saying, “You know, that apron doesn’t suit you, fox.”

Both Kurama and Botan froze before looking over to see him. Kurama smiled at the insult and was about to tell Hiei it was good to see him awake, but like Yukina, Botan tackled Hiei in a hug, and this time he was knocked down to the ground. Taken by surprise, Hiei froze in her grip as Botan laughed happily while crying tears of joy. He didn’t register that she was crying until she nuzzled against him and he felt the droplets fall on his cheek.

“Why does everyone find it appropriate to cry now that I’m awake?” he muttered.

“Because,” Botan replied, “we were so worried about you and it’s such a huge relief that the pressure has to let itself out somehow.”

“Wait,” Hiei said, “did you just say something intelligent? How long have I been out, anyway?”

Botan laughed, but smacked Hiei’s shoulder. “Oh you,” she teased.

“Eh-hem,” Kurama voiced while clearing his throat.

Hiei and Botan both blushed before the ferry girl decided to get off of Hiei and let him get up. The fire demon moved towards his desk and saw that Ryuu was looking a lot healthier. He smirked at his little fish. It seemed like both of them overcame some disparaging odds. Hiei then saw the letters next to the tank and picked up the top one.

“I guess Trunks told you about the letters,” Kurama observed.

“He did,” Hiei replied. “I don’t want her to know, so I’m going to read them.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Kurama voiced. “By the way, it is good to see you up and about. I trust you’ll be taking it easy for a while?”

“Unfortunately,” Hiei muttered. He saw Botan’s troubled expression from the corner of his eye. “No training or fighting, and eating a ton of food. This next week is going to be a nightmare.”

“It will go by quickly,” Botan said, placing her hands on his shoulders and giving them a gentle squeeze. Hiei felt electrified the moment her hands touched his shoulder, but shook it off immediately.

 _What a weird feeling,_ he thought to himself before attempting to end the awkwardness he felt in her presence. “I’ll be down in a bit,” he announced. “Once I’m done reading these letters.”

“Oh,” Botan replied, “okay. See you later, Hiei.”

“You better read quickly,” Kurama suggested. “I’m already smelling food.”

“Great,” Hiei muttered. He knew Bulma definitely meant it when she said she’d force feed him if she had to. “Let her know I want to read the letters first.”

“Will do,” Kurama agreed. “Let’s go, Botan.”

“Coming.” Botan looked at Hiei one last time as he started reading the letters. She smiled, happy to see him looking so much better. Still, part of her wondered how he made such an immediate recovery. Shrugging and shaking her head of thoughts, she deemed it was best not to think on it. Hiei being awake was enough for her.

* * *

Gure had overheard all the commotion. It made her happy to know that her step-son was awake. The first thing she did was tell Tarble. She was surprised to find him outside by their ship. He was looking up at the sky, his arms crossed, with a pensive look on his face. He was leaning his back against the metal sphere.

“Tarble,” she called out with worry. “Are you all right?”

Tarble flinched when he heard her voice and cast her a sad glance. He was feeling so guilty right now about what he put his kids through and now especially what he put her through. He had thought he buried his feelings for the ice maiden away when he married the white alien. “Hey Gure,” he greeted as calmly as he could. His memories, as well as the memories of his son and brother still had him on edge. “What’s up?”

“Hiei is awake!” she exclaimed joyously. “Everyone is talking about it. You should go see him.”

“No,” Tarble replied, an angered expression appearing on his face. He was so mad at himself for not listening to Bulma before, and now he was going to. He shook his head at himself. Even Goku had warned him about pressuring the kids. He should have listened back then.

“Tarble, it wasn’t your fault,” Gure said in attempts to comfort her husband.

Tarble chuckled bitterly. “Oh but it was,” he replied. “Not fully, but I did not help the situation at all. I should have listened to what everyone was saying and let them come to me instead of pursuing them.”

“But they are your kids,” Gure pointed out, confused as to the reason Tarble was blaming himself. “You had a right to get to know them.”

“No,” Tarble countered again. “I had a duty to protect them, even if it was from me. They thought I abandoned them, and then I came out of nowhere and demanded their trust and love. I shouldn’t have done that. Both of them have been through more than I could have ever known.”

“But no one would tell you,” Gure argued. “How were you to know?”

“They warned me, Gure,” Tarble explained. “They all told me to wait, and I didn’t listen. I’m just going to wait and not force myself on him. For once, I’m going to listen to the advice given to me.”

Gure tilted her head in confusion. She wasn’t used to the Earthling, or Saiyan, thought process. They didn’t have problems like these on her planet. The only huge thing to ever have happened to the planet was the arrival of Tarble when he was a baby, and that had been a blessing to her and her family. There were no petty problems or fighting, a perfect planet to send the one Saiyan that lacked the aptitude for fighting.

“Alright then,” she relented. “Please just make sure you don’t stay out here all night. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” Tarble mumbled. “See ya.”

* * *

Hiei had read through all of the letter quickly and went down to the kitchen WITHOUT having to be called or forced. Bulma put out many dishes with large amounts of food just for him and watched him eat every bite of it. He felt the pressure of everyone’s scrutiny causing him to eat much slower than anyone else. When his friends, brother, and sister were done eating, they left the room. Hiei continued eating, and his parents weren’t letting him go anywhere. He picked up the pace a tiny bit, and finished the rest of his lunch.

“Happy now?” he asked Bulma after putting his fork on his empty dish.

“Ecstatic,” Bulma replied happily. “Now you can leave the table, but I swear if either of you thinks about training-“

“Don’t worry,” Vegeta interrupted her. “We’re not. One week.”

Bulma looked at her husband, shocked and worried. “You?” she blurted out. “You’re actually going to follow doctor’s orders?”

“I know, it’s amazing, isn’t it?” Hiei piled on, snickering at the glare he received from his father. “Can you blame us?”

Vegeta grumbled something in his native tongue before standing up and leaving the kitchen. Where he went in the house, whether to rest or do some light training, no one knew. Hiei, on the other hand, decided to go outside to the backyard. There was something he needed to take care of.

* * *

Tarble sighed again wondering how many times a person could sigh before they had the answers they wanted. Why hadn’t he gone after her? How would that have changed anything? Would he have caused her more harm than good? What if he hadn’t left and ended up being the one to find their son months later? Would he have even survived Demon World that long? His mind was an unending void of questions, and he felt guilty even thinking them, especially since his lost love was dead and he was married. He would never be able to erase the past. He could only move forward with the life he made for himself.

He would have never guessed that at that moment, Hiei was standing on the other side of the ship trying to force himself to go talk to Tarble. He wore a frown on his face, though his eyes held no malice. He kicked at the dirt before leaning on the ship. He really didn’t want to talk to the man, but after seeing the past, he knew he couldn’t continue to place blame on him any longer. They needed to talk.

Hiei let out a sigh around the same time Tarble did. The sound surprised Tarble and he quickly rushed to the other side of the ship. When he saw Hiei staring at him blankly, eyes slightly widened, he smiled widely. He didn’t say anything; he didn’t want to scare Hiei off again or ruin this chance. The two of them stared at each other, the wind picking up more than usual.

“Um, we need to talk,” Hiei stated awkwardly while looking down at his feet.

“Yeah,” Tarble said. He motioned towards the table on the deck. “Shall we?”

Hiei nodded curtly, and the two Saiyans walked over to the deck and sat down in the chairs. Tarble watched Hiei expectantly, but Hiei refused to meet his biological father’s gaze. He had things he had to say, and he didn’t know how Tarble would react. Still he hoped to bring his point across and hurt Tarble as little as possible.

“Things have been…difficult, for me,” Hiei started, carefully choosing the words he was using. “I never had a true family, as you saw. Vegeta and Bulma changed that, and I’ve finally been happy, or whatever can pass for happy. I was never supposed to find any sort of happiness.”

“Who told you that?” Tarble snapped. “Those ice people? Hiei, they’re wrong. They’ve always been wrong. You’re just as important as anyone else, even more so to everyone here, and definitely to me. You and your sister, you two are the only reminders of your mother. Hiei, she made me happy. You two made me happy. I’m just sorry…I tried to force it.”

Hiei smiled sadly. “It can’t be taken back, so we can only move forward. So…”

“So?” Tarble said hopefully.

“I don’t want to leave my home,” Hiei explained, “but I…wouldn’t be _opposed_ to having some sort of relationship with you. How do you feel about that, _Uncle_ Tarble.”

Tarble chuckled slightly, grinning sheepishly. “It’s a start, I guess. So…are uncles allowed to take nephews out for ice cream?”

“I think I can manage that,” Hiei answered. “Let me just go tell mom.”

“Okay,” Tarble replied. “Oh, and Hiei…” Hiei paused at the door and turned his head to the side to look at Tarble. “Thanks.”

“Hn,” Hiei replied, looking away and blushing slightly. He entered the house to seek out Bulma while leaving Tarble out alone in the yard.

The younger Saiyan prince looked up at the sky again, this time smile and sighing in content when the cold wind blew again. “Hm, strange,” he said. “It wasn’t supposed to be windy today. Must be a fluke.”

* * *

“Soon,” a sinister voice rang out in the depth below. His secret lab lay where the late Dr. Gero’s existed over a decade before. “Soon they brats will pay for what they did to my master.” Letting out a dark laugh, he turned out the lights, taking a break from his dark project.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters

It was amazing technology, the documentation the man had found. He would have never even thought of turning humans into androids. His master, Dr. Ichigaki, had used humans controlled by his science, but that had its flaws. These androids he had read about seemed to have a nearly limitless supply of power. How had he learned about the androids? Well, it was actually by accident. He actually found the initial workings of Dr. Gero’s science, before the Red Ribbon Army had been destroyed.

He found the evil doctor’s lab and saw that it had been remodeled. There was nothing but broken machinery and everything that had been there was destroyed. That was fine by him; he only needed the initial information, because then he could use what he learned from his own master to create the ultimate weapon.

His creations were almost ready, their energy stabilizing and disappearing according to his energy reading device. The vengeful scientist smirked. The ones he was after…they wouldn’t see this coming. He simply had to wait until everything was configured. They would meet their end by the end of the day.

“And then Dr. Ichigaki can rest in peace,” he said before releasing a dark chuckle.

“Wow, it’s such a beautiful day out,” Bulma said with a smile. “Why don’t we have like an all-day barbeque?”

“Did you say all day?” Goten asked happily.

Trunks laughed and shook his head. “You’re too much like your dad,” he chuckled in amusement. “Anyways, that sounds great. I’ll go call the others. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of your parties.”

“Since when were they my parties?” Bulma questions, hands on her hips.

“Please woman, don’t kid yourself,” Vegeta snorted. “Your parties always have the ability to become loud and hectic.”

Hiei snickered slightly, covering up his smirk. He could see his friends and sister looking at him questioningly as well. “Either way, it sounds like a good idea. Just no loud music this time.”

Bulma’s eyes narrowed at her family. “I’ll show you guys. This party will not turn out like my others.”

“If you can really manage that, I will be impressed,” Vegeta said, posing the official challenge.

Bulma pouted slightly and crossed her arms. She would show them that she wasn’t really the type to throw wild parties.

Tarble and Gure listened to the conversation as they continued to eat their breakfast, saying nothing in response. In truth, Tarble remembered his sister-in-law’s get together back when they had first come to the planet. It had been the day after Abo and Kado had been defeated. He didn’t think she’d be able to meet the challenge posed to her, even if she tried really hard to keep it a peaceful get together.

“I’ll go make the calls then,” Trunks said with a smirk before running off with Goten.

“I guess I’ll start cleaning up,” Hiei stated before getting out of his seat.

“Hold it mister,” Bulma stopped him. “Which plate is that?”

Hiei let out a sigh. “Five, mother. I’m eating, okay?”

“Just making sure,” she responded smiling at him. “And thank you; that’s very helpful.”

His friends watched in shock as Hiei started cleaning up his and his brother’s spots and putting some of the breakfast condiments away. They decided to follow suit and help him in his chore, all being watched by the four adults at the table.

“Oh, so my parents will be bringing Bra home in about an hour,” Bulma reminded Vegeta. “She’s so excited to be coming home.”

Vegeta smiled slightly. “I’m glad she’s returning,” he said simply. “She’ll be glued to Hiei for the night, though. She’s been asking for him when she’s called.”

Bulma nodded. “I know,” she said with a smile. “I’m so relieved everything worked out.”

“Honestly, I am too,” Tarble stated. He and Vegeta cast each other understanding glances and nodded to each other. This went unnoticed by Gure, but not by Bulma, who let out a happy sigh.

“Alright, well I’m going to get things ready,” she said. “Vegeta, get the extra chairs from the basement, will you?”

“Whatever,” Vegeta grumbled before he continued eating his meal.

Gure decided to go off to help Bulma, leaving the two brothers alone in the kitchen. Despite the fact that they now had an understanding of one another, there was still a heaviness bearing down on the two that they both felt needed to be cleared.

“I’m not going to force them to come with me,” Tarble assured him. “I just hope…you’d be willing to let me visit?”

Vegeta nodded once before setting down his silverware. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Hiei was happier now, a lot more relaxed and calmer than he had been. He had known that the boy was spending a little bit of time with Tarble as well. He had been there when Hiei said he and Tarble were going out for ice cream. He also was there when Hiei called him “Uncle Tarble” as a means to translate to him that Hiei wanted to remain his son and still explore a relationship with his biological father in some way. He had no qualms regarding this, especially because this was what Hiei wanted.

“That would be acceptable provided you don’t destroy the backyard every time you land,” Vegeta stated with a smirk. “The woman was not happy about that.”

“Haha, yeah,” Tarble chuckled nervously. “Sorry about that. We’ll try to have better landings. But yeah, I’d like to spend time with him. Who knows; maybe one day he’ll want to visit, but I won’t force that either.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta grunted in response. “We’ll make sure that when you come to visit, you get to see both of them. Yukina won’t be staying with us.”

Tarble looked at him in confusion. “Why not? Doesn’t she want to be with her brother?”

“Of course she does,” Vegeta told him. “But right now, while Kuwabara is finishing school, Japan is her home. Maybe when he finishes, they’ll come, but they are pretty tied down there with their family, friends, and master. Bulma has already assured them she’ll make travel arrangements for visiting. It makes it easier on them.”

“I understand,” Tarble remarked with a smile. “I still wish I had known.”

“It’s past,” Vegeta stated before picking up his dishes and bringing them to the sink. “I won’t even begin to say I understand, but you can’t change the past. Believe me; it’s better left there. I won’t even go into when I found out Bulma was pregnant.”

“Can I ask, though?” Table questioned. “I’m actually curious on that one. It’s okay if you say ‘no.’”

Vegeta scoffed slightly, but grinned. “I didn’t know until I came back from space and there was a baby in her arms when I went to find her. She knew before I left too.”

“Women,” Tarble grunted. “I don’t understand why they don’t say anything.”

Vegeta shrugged. “I gave up trying to understand long ago. I just go with it.”

Tarble laughed at his brother’s remark. This was what he had wanted when he first arrived before he had found out about his kids. He had been coming because he missed his brother and wanted that sense of bonding that they only had begun to explore when he first arrived. This – family – had what he had been longing for. Now they had the opportunity. It was a more welcomed feeling than when he had first landed.

* * *

“So when your mom said ‘all-day barbeque,’ she really meant all-day, huh?” Yusuke stated when he saw the amount of food and coolers the bots were placing on the back deck. There were about a dozen drink coolers, and then about ten large coolers, that almost looked like freezers, full of food.

“You have no idea,” Hiei answered with a grin. “She may suck at cooking, but she is a master at barbequing. I like it better than the food the bots cook, but I’m not complaining.”

“I can’t wait for Bra to come back,” Yukina said. “I’m sure she’ll be so happy. It’s been a while.”

Hiei smiled at his sister and pulled her in for a hug. “I know. It’s fine now, though.”

“Yeah, provided you continue to listen to the doctor,” Kuwabara muttered.

Hiei rolled his eyes, but kept his cool and shrugged. “He said a week to two weeks no training,” he reminded the tall human. “It’s already been a week and a half, and I’ve been eating well the entire time. I’d say I’m in the clear now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kuwabara responded. “I know; you’ve been good, but I still worry.”

“Why do you worry?” Hiei questioned. That he had not been expecting.

“Come on, Hiei,” Yusuke groaned. “We were all worried. Though I think Yukina and Botan were just as worried as your mom.”

“Yes,” Kurama agreed. “Each of them kept diligent vigil waiting for you to wake up.”

Botan blushed slightly and attempted to look away when Hiei looked to her. He knew about his mother, for she would not have left him until she knew he was going to recover. His sister, he also expected as they were related. His friends he expected to come and go during the day, not watch over him for a long period of time. So hearing that Botan had been there waiting for him to wake up at some point made something inside him stir. He had never felt touched before, but this was the closest he would get to that, or so he assumed.

The Z fighters kept showing up as Bulma began cooking. True to her word, Bulma left the music inside and it was nothing by a peaceful summer day with friends gathering together and telling stories of the past.

“No it’s true!” Krillin exclaimed with a laugh. “The look on Bulma’s face when Goku announced that he knew Trunks’ name and that he was Vegeta’s son was priceless.”

“Wonderful,” Trunks muttered. “Now you’re going to tell the story about how I pulled on my future counterpart’s hair, right?”

“Ah, so he remembers the pattern,” Bulma mused as she turned over some steaks on the grill. This was followed by a few laughs and snickers. “But in all seriousness, I’d say all these crises have taught us something.”

“Hmph,” Vegeta scoffed. “Yes woman, like you learning that someone’s good looks does not make them a hero.”

“That was one time, Vegeta,” Bulma whined. Yusuke was the first to burst out laughing.

“I wasn’t even there, but whoever it was, I can so see it,” he said. Bulma simply directed a slight glare to Vegeta before sighing.

“It was some alien that apparently worked for Frieza…as his second in command. I thought he was there to save us from Vegeta, but boy was I wrong. Happy now?”

Vegeta smirked having gotten under his wife’s skin. “Yes.”

“Wait, save you from Vegeta?” Yukina asked. “Why would you need to be saved from him?”

Vegeta had not expected his teasing to be turned around on him, but he decided to ignore the speculating looks of those he now deemed his friends and decided to admit to the truth. “I had worked under Frieza’s rule once before,” he explained. “I was one of his soldiers, so I am no stranger to purging planets and causing pain. Back during that time I was desperate to find a way to defeat him and it led me here, where I became enemies with those of this planet instead of what I am now.”

“Yeah, I remember when you wanted to destroy the planet,” Goku said with a laugh, the others laughing nervously beside him.

“Shut up, Kakarot,” Vegeta grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

“Hey, like father like son,” Yusuke joked, earning a glare from Hiei. “Hiei tried to destroy a city.”

“Shut up, detective!” Hiei shouted before Bulma turned to face him.

“When was this?” she asked.

“A long time ago,” Hiei said hurriedly while making a mental note to pummel Yusuke later. “It’s how I met Kurama, Yusuke, and Botan. Yusuke was a spirit detective for Spirit World, and Kurama and I with some other demon had stolen some artifacts. It was just a few humans. It was no big deal. There’s more of them.”

“But I’m human!” Bulma exclaimed.

“Mom, you are anything but human,” Hiei remarked.

“Agreed,” Vegeta said with a nod.

Hiei grew quiet after that, thinking back to his past. Other stories of the past began circulating between the Z warriors and his friends. Eventually it got to be too much, and Hiei decided to silently excuse himself, returning to the compound.

The only ones who noticed were Kurama, Vegeta, Tarble, and surprisingly Yamcha. The former two knew how Hiei processed his emotions and decided to leave him be to reflect. He would be fine soon after, but Yamcha decided to go and check on him, verbally excusing himself to get another drink from inside the house.

* * *

He found Hiei on a windowsill, looking down and glaring at nothing. “Hey,” he called out making the demon/Saiyan hybrid look at him. “You okay?”

“Never better,” Hiei mumbled. “What do you want?”

“Just making sure you’re okay,” Yamcha stated. “Look, you don’t have to worry about anything. In this group, well, you don’t know all of our stories, do you?”

“Do I care?” Hiei asked. He knew Yamcha had been Bulma’s boyfriend most of her life and how unsupportive he’d been of her attraction to Vegeta in the beginning. He knew that eventually Yamcha grew to accept it and became the supportive friend she needed when Vegeta was off fighting. Still, he did not wish to talk to him. Call it a sense of upholding the honor of his father. He just didn’t want to converse with his mother’s ex.

“Probably not,” Yamcha chuckled. “But I’ll tell you anyway. I was a bandit. I actually met your mom and Goku because I was trying to steal from them. Tien, he was an assassin and he and I hated each other. He even tried to kill Goku when he was a teenager, but now he’s on our side. Piccolo was even worse. He wanted to kill Goku and then take over the world, but he changed too. Don’t get me started on your dad, ‘cause we’d honestly be here all day. Krillin’s wife…well, she was one of the androids Dr. Gero created to take us all out.”

“Fascinating,” Hiei said sarcastically. “Does this story have a point?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Everyone here has a troubled and difficult past for the most part. We all know it, too. It doesn’t matter. No one here holds anything that happened in the past against anyone else.”

“That is not what bothers me,” Hiei told him. “You wouldn’t understand it.” He looked back outside the window. “I know no one holds it against me. Mom has made sure I know that. It’s something else that bothers me.”

That was when Tarble walked into the living room. Both Yamcha and Hiei looked over to him.

“Can I have a word with my…nephew?” Tarble asked, signaling Yamcha to leave. The human smiled and nodded before walking out of the room.

“See you guys out there,” he told them. “I’ll make sure to get you guys some good steaks before the other guys decide to dig in.”

“Whatever,” Hiei murmured, still not looking away from the window.

When Tarble was sure they were alone, he spoke up. “You know that I don’t think badly of you, right?” he asked, making sure that wasn’t what was bothering his son.

“I know,” Hiei stated sincerely. He knew after talking to Tarble that even though Tarble did not like the life he used to lead, he understood why he did. If he ever looked disturbed by it, it was more because unlike him, Tarble was not used to fighting and bloodshed. It was nothing against Hiei personally. If anything, he was also disgusted that the ice maidens made him feel like he needed to behave that way to justify what they had done. There was no justification to killing a child.

“Are you upset about what happened?” Tarble asked, speaking more of the story that Yusuke had forced to be told.

“No,” Hiei replied. “If I hadn’t committed the crime, I wouldn’t have been put on Yusuke’s team to help with cases. I wouldn’t have gotten to the point where I am now. I do not regret the crime. I regret why I committed the crime.”

Tarble nodded and understood. He was just reflecting on that himself. The ice maidens had taken so much from him, so much from all of them including himself and Yukina. If they hadn’t had those laws, most likely Hina would still be with them and Yukina and Hiei would have grown up together.

“It’s past,” Tarble said quoting his brother from earlier. “Sure, those women took a lot away from us, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever governed your actions back then is not what you’re living by now. Focus on that instead. I will choose to do the same. The ice maidens can’t hurt us anymore.”

Hiei smiled slightly at that. He was well aware that he could no longer be hurt by his mother’s people. He just needed a reminder every once in a while. “You’re right,” he stated. “They won’t take anything away from us anymore. I guess that should include time.”

“That’s right, son,” Tarble said before his eyes widened. “Um, I mean nephew…or Hiei…or I don’t know anymore.”

Hiei chuckled slightly at his father’s shift from pensive to nervousness. “It’s okay, I’ll let it slide this once,” Hiei said with a smile. “Besides, this will all take some getting used to.”

“Right,” Tarble answered, once again calm. “I guess we should head back outside.”

“Yeah, that would be good,” Hiei answered hopping off the windowsill. “We don’t want dad and Goku making an eating competition out of our food.” The two of them laughed before the headed back outside, Tarble grinning as he put his arms around Hiei’s shoulders and Hiei smirking at the close contact he felt. He would always see Vegeta as his dad, but who knew. Maybe he’d learn to accept both of them as his fathers. It was certainly better than when he had no father to count on. Maybe now he really could get complete closure on his past. His future was much brighter than that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters. Dragoscilvio wrote the fight scenes.

Hiei’s tail tightened around his waist while his friends were talking with his family. He had been listening intently to the story of how Tarble and Gure ended up together when he felt a shift in the air. Only two others seemed to notice the shift, Kurama and Vegeta. Everyone else finished listening to the strange story the three tuned out. When Tarble noticed that his son and brother weren’t even paying attention and were staring out far away from their group, he grew concerned.

“What’s wrong?” he asked them, but his question went unanswered.

The Z Fighters knew the look on Vegeta’s face. Having been a battle trained veteran of the disembodied PTO, they knew if he felt a battle was coming, it was. What concerned them more was that Hiei had the same look on his face, and even Kurama, his normally jocular yet wise friend. Something was very wrong.

“What do you think it could be?” Hiei questioned the redhead.

“I’m not sure,” he answered, his voice deeper than the rest of the group save the spirit detectives had ever heard. “Whatever it is, it is not good.”

“There’s no energy,” Vegeta stated. “Whatever it is can’t be sensed, or doesn’t want to be.”

“What are you three talking about?” Bulma snapped making the three look towards her. “I mean, seriously, share with the rest of the group.”

“She’s right you know,” Kuwabara interjected. “What’s got you all spooked.”

Hiei scoffed at the human’s ignorance. “We’re not _‘spooked,’_ ” he told him. “You with your spiritual awareness should be able to sense what we are.”

Kuwabara jolted at the mention of his awareness. He had simple been enjoying himself, not sensing anything but mostly because he hadn’t been focused. Stretching out his mental sense, he reached out to feel for what they were feeling. Despite lacking awareness, Yusuke and even Trunks did the same.

“Jeez, what is that?” Yusuke exclaimed.

“It’s familiar,” Kuwabara said in a daze. “Like something out of the tournament.”

This earned a questioning look from Goku and the other Z Fighters. “The WMAT?” the Saiyan questioned.

“No,” Hiei replied darkly, his face shadowing over with ire. “The Dark Tournament.”

“The ‘what’ tournament?” Bulma shrieked making all of the Saiyans within earshot cringe.

“It’s…” Hiei started awkwardly, “a very long and complicated story that we don’t have time to explain right now, mom.”

Vegeta glanced over to his son and his friends and saw the wary looks they were exchanging with each other. “Dr. Ichigaki,” Kuwabara stated, making the others nod. Apparently they believed they knew whoever was responsible for what they were sensing, and they weren’t happy.

“Who is this Dr. Ichigaki?” Vegeta questioned Hiei.

The Saiyan hybrid scoffed and motioned towards the redheaded human. “He knows more about him than I do. I only saw the bastard briefly.”

“Ooooo, Hiei said a bad word,” Bra chanted. Hiei’s eyes widened when he realized his little sisters were still outside.

“I will put money in the dang jar if you and Yukina go inside, now,” Hiei ordered with little force. Yukina frowned at him but understood. She wasn’t a fighter, and where Bra trained a little, she was still a child and did not need to fight.

“A swear jar?” Yusuke snickered with an incredulous grin. “Well, I’ve been wondering how your language got all squeaky clean so suddenly.”

“Trust me,” Bulma glared playfully at her son “it was an effort, but the swear jar has helped clean up the profanity around here…” the bluenette’s eyes slid to her husband in a pointed smirk, “for _everyone_.”

Hiei rolled his eyes as his father gave an indignant scoff, fighting the urge to give a forcible face palm before growling, “We can talk about the blasted jar later, for now we have bigger problems that require the girls to take cover!”

“I don’t want Yukina and Botan to be alone, though,” Kuwabara stated his gaze full of urgent meaning as it met Hiei’s making the fire demon to nod in agreement.

“Nor Bra,” he murmured.

“I’ll go with them,” Yamcha offered.

Both Hiei and Vegeta looked over to him like he was crazy before Vegeta nodded. He turned to his brother and wife and said, “Bulma, go inside, and Tarble, Gure should go inside as well.”

“Like heck I am!” Bulma snapped. “Do you honestly think after everything we’ve seen and been through I’m missing this?”

“Mom, do as dad says,” Hiei demanded forcefully, “now!”

Before Bulma could scold Hiei for his tone, a blast flew past them, destroying another part of the backyard like Tarble’s ship had. All the Z fighters stood up, the meal currently forgotten as all the fighters got ready. Yamcha managed to grab Bulma and Gure leading them Yukina, Botan and Bra into the compound, all of them watching from behind glass doors.

“Holy…” Yusuke muttered before Trunks whistled.

“Mom’s contractors are so not going to like this,” Trunks stated making his father roll his eyes.

Tarble looked over to Hiei who was already crouched into some sort of battle stance. He was ready to attack the intruder with all of his energy. The young prince had no idea where he had gotten such a battle drive when both he and Hina were peaceful. Images of Hiei needing to survive and defend himself entered Tarble’s mind, and he felt his own energy rise in anger. The ice maidens had taken whatever childhood Yukina or Hiei could have had from them, and it caused them to be involved with terrible things. When his son’s friends also got ready to attack, including Kurama who was holding a thorny whip that appeared from nowhere, he realized that something was in fact very wrong.

When the smoke cleared, they were all shocked to see a metallic glossed Hiei staring back at them. The demon/Saiyan hybrid looked at the imposter with an open mouth and furrow brow. He had no idea what was going on or why he was about to be fighting…himself. “W-What are you?” he questioned making the metalloid version of himself smirk.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” the clone answered in a voice that seemed very close to Hiei’s register. Those with sensitive hearing could hear a kink as the clone’s neck shifted when he glanced up and down Hiei’s form. “Hn, there’s not much to you, is there?”

Hiei growled at the insult. Being put down was not something he let go very easily. Flames appeared in his hand as he glared at the imposter. “Big talk coming from a cheap copy,” Hiei retorted. “Did that fool, Ichigaki, build you? Pathetic.”

The clone Hiei grinned. “Dr. Ichigaki? No. And built? Surely I don’t look like one of his metallic toys.”

“You are pretty shiny,” Kuwabara remarked. Hiei looked to the redhead like he was nuts. “But you do look sort of human.”

“Ha!” the other Hiei laughed while throwing his head back. “Even your friend isn’t human. I’m probably closer to that than he is. After all, I am an android.”

And that’s when the Z Fighters exchanged glances and became more defensive save for Trunks and Goten.

“So, you’re Gero’s monstrosity, are you?” Vegeta questioned smoothly. “His so called ‘perfect’ creation ended up destroyed by a boy more than a decade ago. You stand no chance.”

The android looked over to the Saiyan prince and grinned. “I’m not a creation of Dr. Gero either.”

“Then what are you?” Kurama asked smoothly. “You say you’re an android, and you’ve implied you’re more human than Hiei. Is that to say that you are not demon, nor Saiyan? How is it you look like him?”

“The fox is full of questions,” the copy jeered. “I did say I was an android, a modified human if you will, though thanks to Dr. Ichigaki’s successor, my appearance is much different. Though I am not demon nor Saiyan, I have access to the powers of the being I copy. There are more like me, based on the four of you, _and,_ ” the android paused as he extended his pointer finger towards the Z Fighters, “all of them.”

“So,” Trunks spoke up, “the only way some hack scientist thinks he can defeat us is to use copies of us and stealing the technology of two scientists who failed in destroying us before. Yeah, that’ll work.”

Goten snickered, but the copy didn’t get the joke. His cold, lifeless eyes moved towards the lavender-haired Saiyan. “If you were smart you’d all stay out of the fight. This is between my master and them. And my master is using the technology of two brilliant scientists. Together, it will be enough to destroy them and you if you decide on any foolish heroics.”

“Who was talking about heroics?” Vegeta sneered. “If you are in fact a copy of my son, then you should know that us Saiyans live for battle.”

“Heh,” the copy laughed. “My master fixed those flaws when constructing us.”

Hiei growled at his doppelganger as both Vegeta and Trunks glared at the android.

“Okay, then,” Yusuke said punching his fist to his hand. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a good fight. Let’s do this.”

“Wait, detective,” Hiei said coolly as he held out his arm to block his friend. “This cheap copy said that this was a test, and the one to dismantle him should be me.”

“But Hiei, you-” Kuwabara tried to protest, but he was silenced by Hiei’s hardened eyes.

“I’ll be fine.” He smirked. “A week and a half of rest is not enough to dull my blade, nor my abilities.”

Kuwabara stepped forward, stretching out an arm, fully prepared to stop the Jaganshi from making his way onto the battle field but Yusuke stopped the carrot top. “No, you heard the man,” the detective murmured before giving a smirk. “He has his mind made up, and you know how he gets.”

The psychic pursed his lips stubbornly before meeting the determined gaze of the fire demon forcing him to lower his arm. “Fine,” he spat, “but as soon as it looks like the fight is going south I’m stepping in, and you’ll just have to deal with it!”

The rest of the group turned to Hiei awaiting his outrage but only found the young man smirking at his friends and giving a careless shrug. “Fine,” he growled good-naturedly as he walked past the two teens, “but you won’t get the opportunity.”

“We’ll see about that,” Kuwabara muttered.

With a confident swagger the demon strode out to face his copy, both hands in his pockets and the familiar heft of his sword set firmly between his shoulder blades. The look alike watched him carefully, arrogance wreathed across his features as he assessed his opponent.

“You don’t stand a chance against me,” the android smirked. “I’ve already analyzed you and found your energy levels are low, not to mention didn’t you just recently get off bedrest? How can you honestly pose a threat to me?”

“Like I said,” Hiei sneered, “you’re just a cheap copy, and everyone knows that you can never beat the original.”

“Aw, Hiei going and making movie reference,” Trunks sniffed theatrically wiping away a fake tear. “Makes me proud to see him growing up so fast.”

Yusuke snorted slapping the lavender haired boy upside the head playfully. “How do you know he was making a movie reference? That applies to a lot more than Hollywood you know.”

“Because,” Trunks retorted sticking his tongue out, “Hollywood is the only one stupid enough to try to beat the original. If it was a success or a classic, they just _have_ to do a remake!”

Hiei rolled his eyes as the android cocked one metallic eyebrow. “Is this place rampant with ignorant fools?!” the copy snarled.

“Normally I’d agree with you,” Hiei sighed, a small smile lighting his features as he listened to the good natured heckling and laughter coming from the group behind him, “but I assure you that while their sanity may sometimes certainly be in question, they are far from ignorant fools.”

“So says you,” the android scoffed, “but obviously you’ve been tainted by them, which is a shame considering I’ve been force fed so much tedious information concerning how strong you all are. It actually got to the point that I was becoming eager for our meeting, as you would provide a challenge, but I see that I was fool.”

“Now that _is_ something we can both agree on,” Hiei murmured, malicious grin stretching his face with blood thirsty intent. “You are a fool, but not for the reason you think.”

Yusuke stopped his joking around with Trunks as soon as he saw Hiei’s body shift from casual to that of a feral cat hunting its prey. “Get ready,” he smiled to Trunks, “because the show’s about to start.”

Trunks turned his attention back to his brother part of him awed as he always was at Hiei’s mastery in the art of battle, but also a slight edge of fear. There was something different about the way Hiei moved at this moment that Trunks had never seen before. It was subtle but glaring all at the same time, and only a trained fighter would notice the change.

The small form didn’t merely walk over the grass. It flowed, smooth and cool like liquid over rocks in a brook. Muscles, bones, and tendons all came together in a symphony of movement that was at once beautiful to watch but sent a shiver of fear down the Saiyan hybrid’s spine. Before Trunks could even blink, Hiei had drawn his sword and was slinking towards his opponent flipping the blade expertly with one hand as he gnashed sharp fangs. The intent to kill practically radiated off him, and not for the first time did Trunks feel the palpable difference between his and Hiei’s raising.

“Shall we begin?” Hiei hissed.

“Let’s,” the copy snarled.

As one the duo sprinted forward, the android drawing his own blade (with much less finesse and elegance than Hiei, Kurama wryly noted) and the metal clashed together with a ringing clang that set your teeth on edge and echoed in your ears. Spark flew as Hiei pressed his sword sending it screeching down to his opponent’s hilt, and bracing his feet into the lawn as he pushed the android backwards. The copy grimaced against the sheer brute force that impossibly came from such a diminutive source.

“Impressive,” he chuckled humorlessly. “I didn’t know something so small could contain such strength.”

“Ooh, bad move,” Kuwabara grimaced. “Calling him short is a bad idea. Only we get away with that.”

“We do,” Yusuke smirked using a finger to motion to himself and Kurama, “but I’m not so sure about you.”

“Hey! I’m one of the shrimp’s friends too ya know?!”

“You can argue about who I consider friends later,” Hiei ground out as he twisted his blade sending his opponent tumbling backwards. “For now can you all please… _shut up and let me fight?!_ ”

“Jerk,” Yusuke muttered as the two clashed yet again.

Hiei blocked another attack, knocking the opposing blade aside three times, each sweep aiming for vital organs before rushing in for his own offensive move only find himself rebuffed and pushed back onto the defensive. A grimace pushed the corners of his mouth into a deep frown as he felt sudden strain on his body, barely ten minutes into the battle and Hiei could already tell that the man he was fighting was a skilled and methodical fighter, no doubt due to programming and countless hours of repetitive training in order to master his copy of the Jaganshi’s technique. However, Hiei could sense a lack within the style itself, the very flavor that Hiei had given birth to during the hours of turmoil and struggle that so frequently accompanied his own grueling training sessions, was markedly missing.

Even with that subtle difference between their fighting styles, the man had mimicked Hiei enough that he was difficult to beat much less find a viable opening. Hiei could already feel his body begin to weary with the toll that the battle was already taking on his weakening form. In a flash, though, Hiei spotted a sliver of a chance through an unguarded moment, and the Jaganshi moved in to take full advantage of it. Sliding his sword in a slight upward arc. The demon smiled mercilessly as he felt the familiar tug and pull of sliced flesh along the tip of his blade.

The android screamed in pain as he leapt backwards clutching his now bleeding side “YOU?!” he shrieked. “How dare you?!”

“Huh,” Yusuke mused, “so they _do_ bleed.”

“Under all that metal is warm flesh,” Hiei smirked. “How advantageous, for me that is.”

“This is crazy,” Tarble whispered as he watched his son clashing with his doppelgänger. It was no surprise that the Saiyan had never seen fighting quite like this in his lifetime. After all, he was not a fighter. The planet he was sent to was peaceful and no one fought. The only true fight he had ever seen was his brother and the Z fighters fight against Abo and Kado the last time he was on Earth.

Vegeta, though his focus had been mainly on Hiei’s fight, looked down to his brother, no emotion appearing on his face. He didn’t know what Tarble was thinking in this moment, but he couldn’t be surprised by Hiei’s fighting capabilities. They had seen many of his memories, so his style should have been expected. The older Saiyan only hoped that his younger brother wasn’t judging the demon/Saiyan hybrid. He didn’t know that he couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I’m glad Hiei got an opening,” the Saiyans heard Kuwabara whisper. “For a minute, it looked like he was slowing down.”

“He needs to end this quickly,” Kurama agreed. “With his injuries, one wrong move could cost him.”

Tarble looked over to the psychic and demon fox. “How could you two talk so casually about death?”

“We’re just kind of used to it,” Yusuke answered, not removing his eyes from Hiei. “But Hiei’s been in worse scrapes before and still been fine. I mean, he fought people at the Dark Tournament with a paralyzed arm. This isn’t nearly as bad.”

Vegeta didn’t know much about Hiei’s past with his friends. The Jagan had only showed them up to a certain point, but definitely not anything to do with his work with Spirit World. It actually surprised him that Hiei managed to sustain an injury like that yet still fight. It just reminded him how resilient his son truly was. Hiei was always managing to impress him.

“Had enough yet?” Hiei taunted the wounded android. He sounded very confident in this moment as the copy was trying to reign in his pain. Vegeta mentally chuckled. _Apparently this clone doesn’t have Hiei’s style_ OR _his tolerance for pain,_ he thought to himself. His son had this fight.

The demon hybrid sauntered around the android, his seemingly casual stride falsified only by the sword still held at the ready by his side and the tenseness of shoulders giving the slightest of quivers as Hiei felt even more of his strength slip away. The teen grimaced, feeling his heart clench as his chest constricted and a sharp pang flitted across his left lung. Closing his eyes, the Jaganshi drew an even breath making it just shallow enough so not to cause unnecessary pain but still allow him to steady his breathing. Unfortunately, that decision was a bad one.

“Galick Dragon!”

Hiei’s eyes popped open, and he had just enough time to release a small gasp and jump awkwardly to his right as a purplish black dragon blew past him arcing into the sky, twisting and writhing across the lawn and towards the mansion.

Hiei landed rough, a strangled cry ripping itself from his lips as his body unconsciously curled up in the fetal position when agony once again stabbed his chest and left side. Muscular arms wrapped around his torso, Hiei twisted his head around as dull unfocused eyes followed the path of the dragon. His heart skipped a beat, but this time it had nothing to do with his recovery, the dragon was heading directly towards the mansion. Red orbs widened, and Hiei rolled over onto his stomach, struggling to pull himself up onto now trembling arms in an attempt to run into his home.

“Y-Yukina,” he gasped, chest heaving with labored shallow breaths “Bra! Get out of there!”

Too late, the dragon crashed into the building, but mercifully only grazed the top leaving the bottom (and the kitchen which was where the girls were standing watching the fight) untouched. Hiei stumbled to his feet, only to double over and collapse back onto the grass, his mind only on the safety of the people taking cover within the mansion.

Strong arms gripped Hiei’s shoulders, making the demon suddenly aware that his nose was bleeding again and his body was being wracked with uncontrollable tremors, pulling him close so that he would have the support he needed to stand to his feet.

“They’re fine,” a voice yelled in his ear. “The dragon didn’t touch them!”

“But Bo-Botan,” the Jaganshi wheezed, wincing as his heart gave another pang, “and Mom, th-they’re in the house.”

Yusuke, for that’s who it was, Hiei realized when he finally had the strength to turn his head to look up into concerned brown eyes, merely shook his head. “His dragon isn’t as strong as yours, otherwise they would have been consumed by it. As it stands it only took off the roof.”

Relief swept through Hiei’s frame like an ocean wave breaking on the shore, and his knees buckled making Yusuke scramble to get a stronger grip on him so not to let his friend tumble to the ground. “Good,” the Jaganshi murmured weakly, “that’s good.”

“Heh,” the android scoffed, “look at yourself. The way I heard it you would sooner behead someone before allowing them to treat you like you’re weak. What happened to you _flying shadow_?”

Hiei flinched at the disgusted snarl calling him by the translated version of his name. The android saw this and continued his rant, goading the small demon. “You were once a feared assassin and thief known throughout all the demon realm. My master told me that you despised all forms of weakness and that you discarded anything or anyone who you deemed to be weak. Your shadow was the last thing your enemies saw before meeting a very bloody end, and you were famed for the ferocity of your great Dragon technique. But now look at you, a mewling quim without the energy to put up a decent fight much less summon your dragon, while I on the other hand can do this all day without suffering even the slightest dip in my energy levels. Who’s superior now?”

Silence reigned within the lawn as the Dragon gave one last shriek and then disappeared in crackling black lightening, wind blew through the tense atmosphere of the battleground, until suddenly a soft voice broke the quiet.

“Hiei is.”

The android snapped his attention to Kuwabara who had stepped up and blocked their enemy’s view of their Jaganshi by putting his body protectively between them. “Hiei is superior, you jerk,” the carrot top spat. “You’re just a coward who instead of challenging Hiei to a fair fight, decided to attack when he was still recovering from a life or death coma! How spineless is that? And on top of that, you still have the gall to insult Hiei by saying he’s weak when you’re the one bleeding?! His dragon could eat yours as an appetizer, and the fact that Hiei trusts us enough to let us support him isn’t weakness, because I sure don’t remember any easy battles when we fought to earn his respect! So don’t you dare look down your nose at our friend, because while Hiei may be vulnerable right now, he’s backed up by an entire group of people who consider him our family, and we’re fresh as a daisy and ready to fight!”

Fists clenched with the fury now racing through Kuwabara’s frame hard enough to make him tremble, the teen stomped over the copy, using his height to his advantage so to loom over the android with an intimidating sneer before giving a dark whisper. “And even you aren’t cocky enough to take on all of us, are you?”

The android assessed the human with an impassive gaze before giving a smirk. “No, I’m not, but…they are.”

Hiei’s copy pointed at the sky, where the Z fighters and the detectives were shocked to find even more androids heading straight towards them, each one a copy of the gathered fighters.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ, YYH, or the characters

Kuwabara, using his height to his advantage so to loom over the android with an intimidating sneer gave a dark whisper. “And even you aren’t cocky enough to take on all of us, are you?”

The android clone of Hiei assessed the human with an impassive gaze before giving a smirk. “No, I’m not, but…they are.”

Hiei’s copy pointed at the sky, where the Z fighters and the detectives were shocked to find even more androids heading straight towards them, each one a copy of the gathered fighters.

“Son of a…” Yusuke muttered under his breath before looking back at his fallen friend. Hiei looked a little better, as if he recovered a bit of his energy. His nose was no longer pouring blood. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Hiei stated stoically. “We need to figure out how to handle this.”

“Hiei!”

The demi-Saiyan’s attention snapped to his father’s rival. Instantly, a green bean was tossed to him. Hiei caught it with ease and looked at the small seed. If he remembered correctly from his father’s stories, this was a senzu bean. Hiei looked over to Vegeta who simply nodded at him before shoving the bean in his mouth. Instantly, he felt his energy restored and his belly full. It seemed like whatever had attacked him moments ago was gone.

The android noticed this and sneered at him. “You’re taking handouts.”

Hiei smirked and chuckled before drawing his weapon again. “Don’t talk to me about handouts. You’re fighting with techniques that are not your own. You came at me while I was weakened. As far as I’m concerned, you took a big handicap. This evens the odds now that you brought your band of inferior copies. You won’t win.”

“Weren’t you just on the ground flailing a moment ago?” the clone of Vegeta scoffed. “Your words are meaningless, weakling.”

“Don’t talk about my son like that,” the real Vegeta snarled. “You may have our looks and techniques, but you have none of the skills or the raw power of a Saiyan. I’ll show you what the real Prince of Saiyans can do.”

“You’re mistaken.”

Everyone looked off to the side to see a being that looked human. “You see,” the humanoid chuckled, “my creations do have the power. Sure, the skills may not be as refined, but they have the power and a limitless supply I might add. I have finally succeeded in Master Ichigaki’s quest. I’ve finally designed the world’s ultimate human soldiers that are one-hundred percent loyal to me.”

“Oh, please,” 18 scoffed. “You think that we were loyal? You can’t control an android.”

“Au contraire,” the humanoid replied with a smirk. “I used Dr. Ichigaki’s research to perfect their attitudes. The Beruki is at the core of each android. Their will is my will. And, regardless of if you damage the flesh, the Beruki is protected by many layers of metal. You would have to saw one of them in half, and that will never happen.”

“Pain in my…” Hiei growled before sighing. “You’re a fool if you think that will deter us. You’ve made a grave error, returning us to those days.”

“I don’t think you can ever go back,” the man scoffed. “I believe you’ve forgotten your demon ways while living amongst these humans and Saiyans. Disgraceful.”

“So, this guy’s a demon?” Trunks questioned, eyes wide. It shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. Other than his brother, cousin, Kurama, and Yusuke, he had never met other demons, and he was pretty sure these guys weren't the typical demons anyway. This other humanoid demon seemed different somehow, like his very soul was tainted. Trunks had no idea why he was truly there. It couldn’t be to go after them many years after a tournament just to seek revenge for a fallen master.

“I have not forgotten my ways,” Hiei stated sternly. It was the truth. He hadn’t forgotten how ruthless he truly was, but he didn’t necessarily live by those standards anymore. Personally, he could still call upon those skills if need be, but he really had been worried about the girls. Taking the fight to another level would only hurt those around him, and that’s not what he wanted. If they were in a middle of the Dark Tournament ring, Hiei would have slayed his accursed copy by now. Plus, he really had been trying to conserve energy. Now, he didn’t have that limitation.

“We should take this fight somewhere else,” Goku recommended. He looked back to the roofless house. If they were all going to be fighting, they needed to get as far away as possible.

“I think not,” the clone of Goku countered before sprinting into an attack.

The full out war had begun, and Capsule Corp. was the battleground.

* * *

“They’re actually going to fight here?” Gure asked her sister-in-law. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

Bulma didn’t answer right away. Her eyes were on Hiei. She was thankful to her friend for giving him the healing bean. She was afraid her son would relapse, and she was horrified at the idea of him being comatose once again. But now, he seemed find and back in his element. Unfortunately, though, his stupid little clone was making things even more difficult for him. It seemed as if the metallic drone was toying with her son. They all were. “They need to change it up,” she heard Yamcha say as he observed the fights. “These clones know what moves they’re going to make before they do.”

“It’s impossible for them to know,” Botan stated as she pressed her hands to the glass. “The only mind reader is Hiei, and that’s because of the Jagan. His clone doesn’t have that. It’s not surprising his dragon was so weak.”

“What do you mean?” Bulma queried. It seemed this young woman knew a lot about her son and the team. If she remembered correctly, Botan had been Yusuke’s assistant when he started as a spirit detective and had been around the son since he had begun he journey in Human World.

“Hiei used the Jagan to call upon the Dragon of the Darkness Flame when he fought Zeru in the first round of the Dark Tournament,” the ferry girl explained. “Where he managed to tame the Dragon, the Jagan aids in its power. Without it, the wielder would barely have any control. In addition to that, Hiei is much stronger than that android. I’m not saying the Jagan is the source of his power, but all of his powers together bumped Hiei up to a low S-class demon, an amazing jump considering when I met him he was a D-class. According to Koenma’s files, he dropped from an A to D-class when he received the Jagan implant.”

Yamcha whistled. He was impressed. Sure, he didn’t know anything about these “demon classes” Botan was mentioning, but clearly Hiei was not one to be underestimated. He looked over to Botan and still saw concern all over her face despite the fact that she had just talked Hiei up so much. “You still don’t think it’s enough.”

Botan jumped and looked over to the human hesitantly. “It’s not that,” she admitted. “I just don’t like seeing any of my friends hurt, and right now they’re all fighting those things.”

Yukina decided to leave Bra’s side as she continued finger-painting. He placed her hand on Botan’s shoulder, bringing the ferry girl’s attention to her. Yukina’s smile was enough to calm Botan down a bit. “They’ll be okay. They’ve always been okay. This fight is no different.”

Botan chuckled slightly. “Thanks for the reminder, Yukina.”

The ice maiden smiled at her friend before turning her attention to the bloodbath outside. Her eyes first roved over her brother, whose clone was using his own speed to mess with him. He needed to make a direct hit, but he wouldn’t shoot his energy until he could pinpoint the android’s exact location. She then looked to Kuwabara. He was handling himself okay. The clone couldn’t really control the spirit sword the same way, so he was easily defending himself. Her uncle, cousin, and the Z fighters were having more of a difficulty than the others. This ki energy they had was being matched by their clones. The spirit and demon energies of her brother and friends was different. The skillsets were different.

Even if the Z fighters had their own refined skills, they needed to break through the raw power of their doppelgängers. In her mind, Yukina was trying to think of a way they could accomplish that. Thought she wasn’t a fighter, she always had a knack for analyzing fights. She realized it during the Dark Tournament when she was able to follow every competitor’s movements. She knew when one was about to deliver a finishing move, how to avoid the moves, and how to counterattack. She realized now that it probably had to do with the Saiyan blood inside of her, the blood of hers and Hiei’s father.

She looked off to the side and saw Tarble standing there next to the enemy, shaking as he took in everything going on around him. He, like her, was not a fighter. She empathized with her father in that moment. Unlike her, he probably wasn’t used to this kind of bloodshed. Her first time seeing these things were in Tarukane’s threshold. She had been wary, then. Analyzing the fight was not something she could do. It wasn’t until after she had to cross Demon World to return to the glacial village, and then again to reach Hanging Neck Island. She had seen the Dark Tournament, almost every round…every fight was brutal. She was used to it. Tarble was not. She couldn’t even imagine what her father was thinking.

Her attention returned to the fight. Everyone was still fighting their doubles, but then something else caught her eye. For a moment, Kuwabara tripped Hiei’s double and plunged his sword through the core, damaging the droid while Hiei decapitated the dominant arm of the Kuwabara clone before both Hiei and Kuwabara returned to their own doubles. Clarity struck her and she then knew what the rest needed to do to win.

Yukina looked back to her aunt and hesitated. She knew what she had to do, but it was risky. She needed to leave the temporary safety of the home and deliver her message. She quickly ran to the door, ignoring the calls of everyone else as she left the confines of Capsule Corp. “Everyone, listen!” she shouted through cupped hands. “You need to swap opponents! You’re too evenly matched!”

The clone of Hiei sent a blast in her direction before Hiei ended him. He hadn’t realized that his double released a ki beam until he looked up after achieving victory. His face fell, but he regained his senses and quickly moved to deflect the beam into the sky saving his sister’s life in the process.

“Thank you,” Yukina said with a smile.

Hiei looked to her and nodded. “Get back in the house. I’ll cover you.” He looked over to the group still fighting, smirked, and pointed at them with his thumb. “It looks like they took your advice.”

It was true. Everyone had heard Yukina’s suggestion, to swap out opponents. The doppelgängers knew enough about the fighters’ techniques to evade them, but it was a whole other ball game once the others had switched. Their creator had only given them information on their own persona, not the others. Now, things were about to get interesting.

With Yukina safely inside, Hiei returned to the fray, entering combat along with Kurama as they began to fight the Yusuke double. Kuwabara started working on the Kurama and Yusuke took on Kuwabara. “So, smashing Kuwabara’s face into the payment…” he pondered. “Ah, just like old times.”

“Shut up, Urameshi!” his indignant friend yelled while using his spirit sword to deflect the rose whip.

“This is the battle that should have happened,” Hiei stated to his partner in crime. “The fight before you quit and without Goki, that is.”

“We should savor this rare opportunity.”

“Hn.”

Similar conversations were occurring with the Z fighters.

Krillin laughed nervously as he watched his wife brutalizing the metallic version of himself. He always knew his wife was tough, a lot tougher than the android Vegeta was currently knocking around as if he was getting some form of revenge for when the woman had broken his arm. Eighteen seemed to have enjoyment from battering his clone around. If he listened carefully, he could almost make out a, “That’s for leaving the toilet seat up, you jerk!” He sweat-dropped at that. _Heh, being married to an android…_ And at that moment, the human registered an attack coming from the clones of his best friend’s sons.

Gohan was already fighting the Vegeta double with Trunks as Goten faced the android Trunks. “This is ridiculous,” Trunks griped while shooting a ki beam towards fake Vegeta. “It’s bad enough I have my real father to deal with. Now we have metal clones that have verukas or whatever controlling them.”

Gohan couldn’t help but chuckle as he narrowly evaded an elbow to his neck. “Don’t complain, Trunks. Just focus. Hopefully we’ll be done with this soon.”

* * *

Tarble was watching in amazement as the tables turned. “Well, this complicates things,” the demon next to him stated.

It caused the Saiyan to look at him. Tarble took in the tense form and angry features. The man’s fists were clenched. It looked like he could blow at any minute. “Why are you doing this?” the prince asked. “Is this really for some pointless revenge for something that happened years ago?”

The demon laughed in Tarble’s face. “You’re a very narrow-minded fool,” he jeered. “Do you honestly think this is simple revenge? If I left your friends be, they would interfere with my takeover of the human realm. I wouldn’t have even known about these ‘Z warriors’ if not for the little fire demon. I suppose I should be thankful that tracking him led me here so that I could unite the research of Dr. Ichigaki and Dr. Gero.”

“Why were you following my son?” Tarble bit out. He couldn’t stand the idea of someone following either of his kids for any reason.

The demon eyed him strangely before he scoffed. “He separated from the group. At first, I was just waiting and watching them, all smug while lounging around that old hag’s temple. They were all responsible for the downfall of Dr. Ichigaki and my other colleagues. I intended to gain any bit of information on them as I could.

“Of course, the fire demon had gone through a transformation, and even I could see how his power changed. I watched him. Oh boy, did I watch him as that Saiyan trained him. I studied both their fighting techniques, and then I followed them here. I’ve been watching them all for quite a while. Those that I hadn’t watched, I used Gero’s notes regarding their techniques. I WILL get what I want. I’ll be the master of this world, and I’ll use my android army to get it.”

Tarble glared at the cocky demon. From where he was standing, the man’s creations were starting to fail. Once his daughter had pointed out the flaw, the others had taken advantage. “Come on, guys,” Tarble whispered from the sidelines. “You can do this.”

* * *

“Well, this is an interesting turn of events,” Goku replied as he and Piccolo stood back to back facing their clones. “I’ve always wondered what our rematch would have been like. Now I get to see.”

“Hm,” Piccolo chuckled. “It is kind of interesting, though I didn’t expect you to be this bloodthirsty.”

“If you’re done talking, I’m ready to fight,” the clone Goku said. “Prepare yourselves for your end.”

“Huh,” Goku murmured, his arms dropping to his sides as he became dumbfounded. “He kind of reminds me of Turles…”

Of course, Goku and Piccolo weren’t the only ones able to have a mock rematch. Eventually, the clone Gohan went after Goku, and his clone ended up going for Vegeta. The Saiyan prince was ready for the challenge. Though it wasn’t really Goku he was fighting, he took it as seriously as if he was. “I will have great pleasure in taking you out of existence,” the prince taunted. “Coming to fight me was your last mistake.”

Goku’s double grinned and crossed his arms. “Oh, really?” the lookalike taunted arrogantly. “Considering how all your fights turn out with me go, I’m surprised you’re this eager.”

“First off,” Vegeta scoffed, “ _you_ are not Kakarot, but you’re close enough. I’m going to enjoy tearing you to pieces, toaster.”

The android deadpanned, but didn’t respond to the jab. Instead, he moved to attack, the two entities clashing in the skies. Hiei looked up to see his father fighting the clone of Goku and snickered. He and Kurama had knocked out the Yusuke moments before. “Well, this should be interesting.”

“What should be?” Kurama asked his friends.

“Nothing,” he replied crossing his arms. “Just watch the show.”

Vegeta shot a barrage of ki blasts towards the clone, but the clone managed to block all but a few. The energy damaged parts of his outer shell, but the droid recovered quickly and mimicked Goku’s Kamehameha Wave. The Saiyan prince quickly shot his own Galick Gun to counter the move, and surprisingly it broke through the wave easily. _He must not be able to utilize Kakarot’s Kaio-ken technique. That gives me the advantage._

It had given him the advantage to turn the tables on the clone. The Galick Gun ripped through the blue energy and instantly shattered the machine, Beruki and all. Vegeta watched all of the pieces of the shattered android fall to the ground below. His expression became grim as he reached a mental epiphany.

It had been the first battle between him and Kakarot that had not been interrupted, and it had been empty.

All of the fighters, including the androids, felt Vegeta’s power skyrocket in his rage. “Um, I think we better get out of here,” Goku called out.

“I’d say so,” Yusuke murmured down on the ground.

Everyone quickly escaped the area either by flight or jumping down using the crater in the backyard for cover. The androids, though, stay stationary, not really registering what was going on. Vegeta’s energy was released as he yell out his frustrations, and those copies were all instantly shattered.

The prince breathed heavily, from having expended so much energy in waste, as he touched down on the ground. His friends and children all returned to the former battlefield and assessed the damages. “Heh,” Trunks laughed nervously as he wiped the sweat from his brow. “Who knew the way to win would be to get dad so angry at actually defeating Goku.”

Hiei looked at all of the androids and saw the Beruki. He and the other former spirit detectives all dropped down to make sure they were all destroyed. Hiei was about to incinerate the Beruki that had possessed his own clone when the Z warriors moved to destroy the others from their clones. Apparently, leaving these things alone wouldn’t be the safest option.

Before Hiei could even ignite the demonic invention, the inventor was ready to attack him. Despite the use of the bean, Hiei still felt a bit weak, mainly due to his own hunger. His shoulders were hunched and his attention was elsewhere. He wouldn’t be able to defend himself from an attack even if he had noticed it.

“Don’t even,” Tarble darkly demanded as he noticed what the demon was about to do. “Don’t attack my son.”

The demon mentally chuckled, not expecting the Saiyan to do anything. The smaller prince had sat on the sidelines the whole battle. He didn’t seem like much of a fighter. “Or what?”

Hiei finally touched his flaming hand down to the Beruki when everyone heard a strangled cry. Everyone’s attention shifted to the inventor and Tarble, and the scene was shocking to say the least. The demon had a hole through his stomach, caused by Tarble’s fist. The Saiyan pulled his bloodied fist back and shook the droplets off to the ground.

“As I said,” Tarble emphasized angrily, “ _don’t attack my son._ ”

With that, the enemy dropped to the ground in a puddle of his own blood.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own YYH, DBZ, or the characters
> 
> Well, this is it! The last chapter to Tarble in the Family, but certainly not the end of the series. Dragoscilvio and I still have a lot planned for these characters. The next story will be posted on out joint account SilverDolphin2012 (on FFN; for AO3, I'm pretty sure I will post it here) and will be called Heart Maid of Stone. We look forward to working on that one together.

“As I said… _don’t attack my son._ ”

With that, the enemy dropped to the ground in a puddle of his own blood.

Hiei watched in stunned silence as the demon dropped to the ground, gasping out his pain. No one had expected Tarble to get involved with the brutality, but his eyes held a dark cruelty that the hybrid would have never expected. He was sure that Vegeta had also been shocked. After all, he always said that Tarble was not a fighter, definitely not like them. And the fact that he had done something so far outside his comfort zone…and for _him_? Hiei’s mouth went dry as the angered expression seemed to remain on Tarble’s face.

Vegeta was also watching his brother. He had never seen that look of careful calculation or malicious intent on the younger prince’s face. His first instinct was to check on the enemy, make sure he couldn’t attempt to go after Hiei again or Tarble. Kneeling down near the enemy, Vegeta determined that Tarble had missed his vital organs…on purpose. He wanted the demon to suffer, but also gave him a chance at life. “Leave him,” Tarble’s voice spoke sounding colder than ever. “If he wants to live he’ll have to figure it out for himself.”

Hiei began to walk towards the two Saiyans slowly. His mind was on autopilot as he started to realize what had almost happened. His attention was on the Beruki, but moments later, he had sensed the other demon’s intentions, somehow, but he hadn’t even registered an imminent attack. Tarble, though, had been right next to the demon. He had saved his life.

“Why?” the fire demon asked almost inaudibly.

Tarble seemed to snap out of it when he heard Hiei’s voice. Though his expression softened, Tarble remained serious as he said, “Hiei, I don’t mind if you don’t see me as a father figure. I don’t even mind if you end up seeing both Vegeta and I both as…well. But I didn’t know about you. I wasn’t there. I couldn’t be there for you when you needed me most. There was no way I was going to let someone hurt you when I could do something about it. You are _my_ son and, even if you don’t see me as much of anything, that fact will never change. I will always see you as my son and I’ll always be there when and if you need me.”

Hiei didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond to the man’s sincerest words. There was a lot he felt in that moment, but his usual feelings of anger and animosity towards Tarble could not be found. No, he still didn’t see Tarble as a father figure, but even Tarble mentioned that one day he could allow his heart to share those sentiments between him and his uncle. The fact of the matter was that the imiko, once tossed away and left to die, had the protection and love of his friends and his uncle’s family, and now there was another who loved him and would make sacrifices for him. It was honestly too much to take in.

“Tarble!” he heard his supposed step-mother gasp as all of the women finally came out of the house.

Hiei was instantly tackled by Bulma. “You had me so worried,” she told him. She then pulled back to take in his features. “How are you feeling?”

Hiei knew he would regret this, but he really couldn’t lie to his mother. “Um…a little hungry?”

Bulma blinked at him in surprise before she ran back to the house to get the bots started on dinner. Hiei heard Trunks laughing. “Oh man, you’re going to regret that later.”

“Whatever,” Hiei grumbled before he noticed Botan next to him. She had startled him, his heart randomly skipping a beat. He shrugged it off as shock by her instantaneous appearance. She was eyeing all of his wounds. “Yes?”

“I can heal those if you’d like,” she offered. Then she looked over to the demon on the ground with a scowl. “Should I even bother healing him and taking him in to Koenma?”

“No,” Tarble responded curtly. “As I said, if he wants to live it’s on him.”

“But…why would you do that, Tarble?” Gure questioned, her surprise apparent. “We…we don’t do that, remember?”

Hiei eyed his step-mother with a quirked brow. He knew her race wasn’t violent, hence why Tarble had originally been sent there, but Tarble had defended him from someone who had been ready to end his life. There had to be rules regarding self-defense. She couldn’t hold Tarble responsible for this.

“Everyone, go inside,” Vegeta ordered, “or back to your homes or wherever you need to be. I will handle this piece of garbage.”

“Well, okay then,” Goku replied before looking at his kids. “We should get everyone home now.”

“Sure,” Gohan replied before waving off to their friends. “See everyone around.”

The Sons took off, and even Piccolo went with them. Krillin and 18 did the same, taking their daughter with them. "We should at least go inside and tell Koenma that someone was using the Beruki and we destroyed them,” Yusuke murmured in attempts to get his friends inside.

“Fine,” Hiei retorted. “Let’s go.”

The former spirit detectives and Botan went inside and found Yukina and Yamcha entertaining Bra, probably hoping to keep her inside and away from the bloodbath outside. That still left Trunks in the backyard, glancing at his father, uncle, and aunt. Something going on just wasn’t right, but Trunks trusted his father to handle it. For now, he’d go into the compound and make sure everyone was doing okay and see if his mother needed help with dinner.

Once alone, Vegeta turned to face his younger brother. “You did well today,” he offered. “Don’t let anyone or anything take that away from you. Because of you, our son is safe.”

With that, Vegeta cast an irritated glance at his sister-in-law before entering the compound leaving the couple alone.

“Don’t give me that look, Gure,” Tarble sighed.

Gure looked down to the unconscious demon next to her husband’s feet. “We could still help him. You know that our people don’t approve of unnecessary violence.”

“Unnecessary?” Tarble asked in frustration. “Gure, it wasn’t unnecessary. He was going to attack my son. Hiei could have been really hurt. He was still recovering. I couldn’t just sit back and-”

“You didn’t have to mortally wound him,” Gure pointed out meekly. “If you had the power to do this, then you had the power to just apprehend him without any violence.”

The Saiyan side of Tarble had awakened when he realized his child was in danger. All he could hear right now in response to Gure’s words was that the demon deserved to suffer for even thinking of harming Hiei. “We will have to agree to disagree on this one,” Tarble settled. “I believe my actions were completely justified, and you’re just going to have to accept that.”

But Gure couldn’t accept that as she looked down at the fallen former enemy bleeding out in the backyard. Even if the demon wanted to survive, there was no way he was going to now. “Go inside, Gure,” Tarble murmured quietly. “I’ll be in soon.”

For the first time in her life, Gure was a bit fearful of what her husband would do. She didn’t trust him not to hurt the creature further. There was a callousness about Tarble right now, and she feared what it would do to him if she left him out there with his victim. “I will only go if you enter with me.”

“Fine,” Tarble relented before he looked down at the demon. _I hope you rot,_ he said internally, not wanting Gure to hear the words he had intended to say to the demon when they were alone. Clearly, she hadn’t been too thrilled with his actions that day.

* * *

A couple of days went by after the attack. Bulma’s contractors had been astonished by the amount of large craters…and the fallen android parts and demon in the backyard. The roof had left them all stunned. When Bulma was asked what happened, she said a tornado had hit and that it dragged all those parts there and then handed each man a $10,000 tip if they agreed to keep quiet. They all agreed.

Gure and Tarble had agreed to leave and return to her planet. It had taken her a lot of convincing to get Tarble to return home. His children had both decided to stay on Earth. He couldn’t take them from their homes. He wouldn’t, not after her had finally gained Hiei’s trust. It made his decision to leave even harder. Unfortunately, his wife’s reaction to his actions weighed heavily on him and he needed to make her happy. She didn’t necessarily thing that planet was the most positive place to be right now. When she had worded it that way, Tarble felt a familiar surge of anger and it had led to their very first argument as a couple.

“Will you just drop it?” Tarble had asked.

Hiei had been walking past the room, contemplating whether or not he’d go and talk to Tarble or just wait to say goodbye downstairs. He wasn’t too entirely sure if he wanted him to go, strangely enough. Somehow, over the course of his recovery and the fight, Hiei had found it within himself to forgive Tarble. He realized that the prince had never intentionally tried to hurt him. He even backed off on the idea of him and Yukina leaving Earth, a huge weight off of Hiei’s shoulders. Now, though, it seemed that his father’s sacrifices had landed him in trouble. Hiei frowned. Why couldn’t his step-mother understand that this demon would have continued to go after them had Tarble not stepped in? Even Vegeta was a bit infuriated by the constant bickering between the husband and wife.

The last few days, Gure kept pointing out what she believed to be Tarble’s mistake. Bulma had tried talking to the woman, to explain that protective paternal instinct, but Gure didn’t understand. Her people didn’t have instinct, for whatever reason. They were an isolated people that never fought or felt the need cause harm. Hiei had heard Vegeta mutter under his breath that they’d probably be extinct by now if not for Tarble, regardless on if he was a fighter or not. He had defended the people as best as he could from Abo and Kado, after all.

Tarble had been trying to get her to change the subject, but it was like she was constantly holding his heroic act against him. It didn’t sit well with Hiei, and he was once again bothered by his step-mother. What Tarble did spoke so many volumes to the fire demon. He didn’t deserve this constant badgering and belittling.

“I’m just trying to understand,” he heard the alien woman say. “I just don’t understand your mindset. Doesn’t it bother you that someone died because you injured them?”

“Of course it bothers me,” Tarble admitted, “but my actions do not. I did it for my son. This other demon wasn’t going to let up, Gure. He’d been watching them all for a while, without being detected. And if it hadn’t been Hiei, it could have been Yukina or one of their other friends. I did what was best for all of them.”

“But not what was best for you,” Gure returned.

“You don’t know what any of them have been through,” Tarble countered. “I got to see what my son has been through. I needed to show him that I was there for him, no matter what, no matter what I was raised to believe. He needed to know that I understood his actions, that I wasn’t ashamed of him. That is what is best for him, him knowing that I will always support and protect him. What’s best for me…would be you learning to accept what I did and move on. That’s what I need.”

Hiei’s heart filled with warmth as he heard his father explaining to his wife that he wasn’t ashamed of him. It was rare for him to hear those words, though more common as of late. He decided to make his presence known after the woman whispered, “I’ll try.”

He raised his hand to knock on the door when Tarble opened it ready to come out. His father looked shocked, like a deer caught in a headlight. “H-Hi,” he stuttered. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good,” Hiei awkwardly returned as he retracted his fist and looked away embarrassed. “I…We should talk.”

Tarble nodded and closed the door behind him as he left his wife to finish packing. He began to head towards the stairs when Hiei added, “Um…in my room.”

Tarble was surprised that Hiei was offering to talk in his private space. For the course of his visit, Hiei made it clear that Tarble was not permitted in his room. Now, he was offering to remove that condition, and Tarble was kind of curious to see his son’s room.

The first thing that struck him was how neat the room was, with nothing out of place. There were posters on the wall. Tarble remembered the word from when he had seen Trunks’s room when he was a child. The posters had pictures of people with instruments or just instruments, types Tarble had never seen before. It reminded Tarble that he didn’t know much about Earthling culture.

The prince looked to the small tank on the desk and sat down to observed the fish. He leaned on his flattened hands and smiled. “Hey, he’s looking a lot better,” Tarble stated, happy that the fish didn’t swim off to hide like last time.

Hiei looked over to Tarble and sighed. “Yeah,” he replied awkwardly. “You…didn’t have to do it, you know.” When Tarble looked at him, he clarified. “I’m used to pain, and he was a weakling. He wouldn’t have been able to kill me. I could have handled it.”

“I know,” Tarble admitted, “but just because you can handle something doesn’t mean you should. I wasn’t just going to let him make any sort of attempt on your life. You’ve dealt with that enough and you just don’t have to anymore.”

“You’re going back to a place where what you did is considered wrong,” Hiei remarked.

Tarble smiled weakly. “Gure will get over it,” he assured his son, though he wasn’t sure if he believed that himself. “And sometimes the beliefs of a whole people can be wrong, just like those ice maidens. We just have to force those views out of our minds and live the way we have to. Your…your mother would tell you not to worry and that things will work out. It’s what she said to me and what I’ve held onto all these years.”

Hiei’s hand moved to his tear gem grasping it to somehow feel closer to his mother. He then sighed and said, “I sort of wish you didn’t have to go.”

“Pardon?” Tarble asked in shock. That was a completely different attitude than when he had first arrived.

Hiei grunted. “I don’t make a habit of repeating myself and I won’t start now.”

The father wore a joyful grin, thankful that Hiei no longer seemed to resent him. “I’ll try to be back for that tournament thing. Vegeta said he’d let me know when. I…uh, look forward to seeing you fight again.”

There was a burst of some undefinable emotion that Hiei felt fluttering in his chest. It wasn’t unpleasant, but he could not use a word like “happiness” to describe it. What he felt seemed so much more powerful than that. He was feeling pure ecstasy resulting from the pride and love he received from his father. For so many years, he was telling himself that he didn’t need a father, that his own father had never wanted him, but it was so far from the truth.

Hiei would always be thankful to Vegeta for being his dad, for being the first to show him things a boy would learn from his father. Vegeta had given him a home and stability, a world with love regardless of the fact that his dad rarely used that word. Right now, though, Hiei was thankful that his father was there for him, too, and that he would want to be cheering him on from the sidelines, but be ready to protect him if need be.

For the first time since Tarble had shown up, he wasn’t troubled. He looked forward to their next visit.

He was truly blessed.


End file.
